


The Distance Between

by writers_writers



Series: Hetalia Soulmate AUs [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Cop AU, Fluff, Homophobia, M/M, Original Character(s), Soulmate AU, Soulmates, abusive families, its kinda half and half, original charecters - Freeform, side ameripan, sorta????
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-16 03:42:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 23,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7250566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writers_writers/pseuds/writers_writers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where the vision of your destined lover is little more than a hand mirror away, Mathias Kohler learns that meeting Lukas isn't the same as keeping him.<br/>As more and more of their story reveals itself to each other, Mathias realizes that Lukas' life isn't what it seems, and he may be in more danger at home than anywhere else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Thus the World Changes

**Author's Note:**

> Names I use:  
> Denmark: Mathias Kohler   
> Norway: Lukas Bondevik  
> Finland: Tino Vainamoinen  
> Sweden: Berwald Oxenstierna  
> Estonia: Eduard von Bock  
> Latvia: Raivis Galante  
> Lithuania: Toris Lorinaitis

Swiftly and without a word, the Mathias' teacher moved down each row, placing a small mirror, each the size of the student's palm on the desk of excited teen. The soft metallic 'clink' resonated in the near silent room. Every student practically held their breath, waiting.

She finally reached the front, all mirrors passed out, then nodded.

The students practically lunged for the mirrors.

Almost immediately, the class burst into sound and excitement as the students looked back at a completely different reflection.

The teacher gave them their moment then hushed them quickly.

"I assume everyone is familiar with the concept of the soulmate reflection?" she said, speaking just as sternly as she had walked.

The group nodded in unison.

She was about to move on before one student raised his hand quietly, his face becoming a mild shade of pink.

"Yes Tino?"

The teen swallowed his fear as the class turned to stare at him.

"I don't really know much about this. My mom doesn't really like to talk about it," he murmured bowing his head as if he were ashamed of his lack of knowledge. "The whole ceremonial thing is really an American thing anyway," he added.

Murmurs mixed with chuckles made their rounds about the classroom.

The Fin's blush only got brighter and he stared, embarrassed, at his desk.

Annoyed, the grandmotherly teacher sighed deeply, then snapped a silencing look toward the other students. "That's enough class. There are some parents that don't like to talk about this and that's just fine. There is always one in every class."

Quickly she brought out another mirror from off the side of her desk, this one being much thicker and larger.

"This is a video mirror," she started, shifting the heavy object into the crook of her arm. "It takes in your image and plays it back in real time so you can do your makeup or fix your hair. They are what you have in your bathroom and/or bedroom.

This," she said pulling out an old and worn mirror the size of their's. "Is an actual reflective surface. The reflective version was once simply called a mirror, but as the the times progressed, beauty was became slowly more prominent than watching our loved one. And so now, when a person says mirror, this is what you automatically think of. am I correct?" she asked, a bit of elderly bile seeping into her tone.

"Now in the simplest sense, a reflective mirror shows you an image of your soulmate. I assume you know what that is Tino."  
He could barely make eye contact as he shook his head.

This time no one dared to laugh as a very annoyed teacher surveyed the room.

"A soulmate is the one person in the world you are perfect for. You may not be exactly alike or people may be complete equals. The one constant in every pairing is that you complete each other in a way no other human can."

Sh epaused a moment, making eye contact with Tino again.

"Don't take this lightly. Who you see in your real reflections are the people that you will find forever with."

She softened her expression into a smile.

"Did that answer your question Tino?"

"Yes", the teen murmured suspiciously shooting a look to one of the students next to him.

"What's wrong?" she questioned, already knowing the answer.

"Uh, I-uh."

"Is your soulmate here today?", she promoted with a single raised eyebrow.

"Yes", he said smiling awkwardly at a tall blond who was peering at him through squared glasses.

"That's lovely, most people have to wait awhile to meet theirs. Are they in this class?" The teacher chirped, clasping her hands together.

Half the class was sitting on the edge of their seat waiting for the conclusion to the whole mess.

"Yes", he murmured finally.

"Well, say hi!" she practically shouted with a dramatic wave of her hands. "That's why today is called meet and greet."

Tino paled again as the entire class had their full attention on him.

"Uh, I really don't, I mean, well"

The poor guy looked like he was going to pass out, noted Mathias. She really shouldn't put him on the spot like that. If Tino was nervous, the old bat shouldn't be bothering him.

The awkward moment was extinguished by a hand on Tino's shoulder and a protective person beside him.

"M' name's Berwald, what's your's again?"

Quietly the Fin turned back to his mirror then looked up slowly.

"Tino", he squeaked fully taking in the absolute giant that was seated next to him.

"Th'ts a nice name."  
This cringeworthy introduction was interrupted by the teacher once again trying to push things much faster than Mathias or really most of the class thought was right.

"Alright you two, go ahead and head down to the auditorium. They're hosting the official meet and greet there."

The class watched enviously as the pair walked out, Berwald towering over his soulmate and probably scaring him even more than before.

"Alrighty! Now that that's over, anyone else who recognizes their soulmate may come up here and ask about their whereabouts. The rest may have some free time to chat with their friends or message their parents. We have the entire day to relax and get used to this new school. But remember, taking pictures of your reflection will not work. It is the same concept as taking a regular picture."

As the class shuffled around, a disheartened Dane stared quietly at his mirror.

He bit his lip, worrying a groove into it after a few minutes of staring.

It didn't take long for the entire class to scramble and group up, many of them excitedly babbling about their soulmate.

Well, not the entire class, Mathias honestly hadn't even moved.

After a bit, he gave up on the loner act and stood to go talk to the only people he knew in the class.

"Hey guys."

The trio jumped as the large figure loomed over them.

Eduard got over his surprise quickly.

"Oh, hey Mathias. What's up?"

Mathias tried to pass off as nonchalant.

"I was bored and you're the only person I know in this class."

Pausing to gauge the reactions of the other two, he was almost ready to bolt.

"If I'm bothering you, I can go sit back down."

Glancing back to his friends the Estonian received a neutral but subtlety nervous reaction.

"You can sit here I guess, we aren't that interesting though."

As Mathias moved to sit, the Ravis suddenly chuckled.

"Unless you count Toris ' predicament."

"Raivis!?", both friends managed to snap at the same time.

Suddenly surprised by the reaction, Mathias stuttered out, "Whoa, what predicament?"

He didn't get an answer right away, as Raivis was busy being scolded at and Toris wouldn't look up from his desk, his face a seemingly permanent red.

_What is up with everyone being so blushy today?_

Finally hoping for an answer, Mathias leaned forward to take a look at Toris' reflection and immediately startled.

"Wow...she, uh, he, um..."

Mathias' admiration of the blond was suddenly muffled by his attempt to find the right pronouns.

"That's what Eduard was talking about, we can't really tell", Raivis commented, breaking off Eduard's scolding.

Noting Toris' intensified expression of embarrassment, Mathias rolled his eyes.

"Why is everyone so nervous about this? Everyone goes through it."

The Estonian immediately took a defencive stance and rolled his eyes back mockingly. "Dude, you're a star running back. You probably have a pretty blond cheerleader as your soulmate, I bet you're going to meet her at your next game, fall into each other's arms and live happily ever after. We, on the other hand, have no idea who ours' are."

Kind of annoyed at his supposed friend's assumption the Dane huffed and stiffened before growling, "Ex-running back. I quit before this year. I didn't like how the guys were treating some of the 6th graders and I didn't want to bother with that type of stuff."

Guilt sprung up Eduard's face.

"Oh, uh, sorry," he mumbled out, not even looking Mathias in the eye.

Too annoyed at the stereotyping he was faced with, the teen got up to move back to his desk.

The bell rang before he had to face confused looks of his classmates.

Thankful for the exit ticket, he bolted without even looking at his schedule or hearing his teacher's call.

* * *

Pressing his forehead against his locker, Mathias forced his stomach to stop doing flips.

_What was their problem? Why is it everyone's assumption that football players have a perfect life?_

He didn't even want to play football anymore. He hated it so much, he lied about getting out of it. He couldn't get out of it, his dad would kill him.

His life was falling to pieces and even though everyone was watching him, no one could see it.

Running a hand through his hair, partially annoyed by the nasty crispy gel, he finally made a motion to open his locker.  
Finding the standard nook, he pulled out his mirror from his pocket and settled it in the door.

Ignoring the bell telling him that he was late for football practice, he shuffled around in his backpack in an attempt to find something to eat.

Giving up on the hopeless act, he switched his intentions to finding money for a bus, maybe he could just go home instead of waiting for the coach to offer a ride. Two pennies and a dime later, he didn't have much hope.

Shouldering the half empty bag, he snatched his mirror off the door and slammed his locker closed.

"Can't I catch a break?", he huffed quietly to himself staring longingly into the disk.

Honestly, he couldn't deny the beauty of the reflection. Despite the emotions that were undoubtedly all over his face, emotionless, icy eyes stared back at him, only slightly hinting at the misery he felt at the moment.

It was those icy eyes that made the other teen look like a fashion model.

Mathias tried smiling and as his soulmate reflected it, it was obvious that this wasn't quite natural so he dropped back to a frown.

His hair was a light blond, his nose was delicate and slightly upturned as if he were constantly disgusted by something.

Frowning even harder, the Dane took a deep breath. If he wasn't going to be happy, he at least could pretend to be.

Forcing a smile into the mirror, he watched his reflection light up again. It was almost unreal.

Of course he had seen himself smile in video mirrors before, not that he had one at home. But this was different. Really seeing true emotion on his significant other's face made the whole day suddenly become real.

He swallowed a gasp and nearly fell over as the muted emotions that he had suppressed all day came flowing forth.

Confusion, worry, and finally joy overtook him one by one.

Letting his forced smile melt into a true one, the young teen suddenly realized something.

_It's going to be alright._


	2. The Other Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little look into the other side of things.

Similar woes were traversing Lukas' mind.

"Lukas?"

The teen startled as his friend dropped into the empty seat beside him.

"Oh, hello Arthur," he mumbled, trying to drop into his usual neutral expression.

His calm demeanor and emotionless eyes didn't fool the Englishman for very long.

"What's wrong?" Arthur prompted leaning in a little closer.

"It's nothing."

Arthur rolled his eyes.

"That sour expression you just had made you look like you had just gotten hit in the nether regions with a polo stick again. Something is definitely wrong."

Swallowing his annoyance at his friends perception and necessity to remind him of last week's incident, he pressed on.

"I'm telling you, it's nothing."

"And I'm telling _you_ , you rarely ever lose your scowl, let alone look like you are in pain from nothing. What's wrong?"

Silence.

"Is it the uniforms?"

"What?" Lukas' face puckered in surprise and confusion.

"Come on, you've noticed it, right? These are so much more itchy and uncomfortable than last year. And I swear the crest is even bigger."

Lukas rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the psychosomatic suggestion that he was getting itchy. 

How he had ended up running around such a strange person was beyond him.

"No, Arthur. It isn't the uniforms. What were you expecting anyway? It's a private school."

The corners of Arthur's mouth twitched downward and he raised one of his eyebrows.

"Then what is it?"

After a few more seconds attempting a calm facade, he gave into his classmate's instance.

"I'm not sure really," he started. "I understand how this all works, and I know it can take a long time to find your soulmate. It's relatively stupid, but I guess I was just hoping it was someone I knew or someone is meet within two years at least."

The small rant ended with a very sad and disappointed looking Norwegian.

Arthur chuckled.

"Be glad you don't know him. You know Francis has been messaging me all morning begging me to try and skip class to come meet with him?" Arthur scoffed.

Lukas shot the underclassman an odd look before realizing.

"You're a freshman this year?"

"Yes, but that's the best part of a K-12 private school and you're in advanced classes. No one can tell."

"And you got your mirror and your soulmate is already begging to meet you."

Arthur sighed. "And know we know why that frog has been hanging off of me since the first day of school last year. He wanted to woo me before I figured it out."

"He does realize that you can see your reflection in water and in windows. Right?"

Arthur chuckled and sat up.

"I have no idea. He just really, really wants me to skip class.

"You aren't going to?"

"I'd rather wait, the teachers are still on high alert."

Lukas blew a long breath out, floating his bangs off his forehead.

"I still hate the fact that they took away Meet and Greet day because of last year's incident."

"Do you blame them? I think the janitor still finds paper hearts and specs of glitter now and again."

"Wasn't that Francis' older brother?"

"The guy who set off the glitter cannon? No, but I could see the resemblance. Snobby, blond and rich. Oh wait that's every rich kid at this school."

Arthur was laughing at his own joke, but Lukas sunk down in his seat realizing he was part of that group.

Thankfully, Arthur wasn't a complete idiot and noticed.

"Sorry Lukas I didn't mean you."

Lukas didn't respond.

"If you look at me I'll give you your welcome back present." Arthur practically sang as he reached into his bag.

Lukas glanced over at this. Arthur's presents were always a nice deviation from the usual expensive and thoughtless gifts he usually received. 

What he didn't expect was a book slapped onto his desk.

"1001 Uses For Tea?" Lukas read, glancing over the cover.

"Check the author."

"By Arthur Kirkland."

"My family gave me the idea. I think they got tired of me talking about tea so I started writing everything down. My mom told her publisher friend and he thought it would sell. This is my copy. It isn't going to be released until the beginning of next year."

"You're giving me your copy?"

Arthur shrugged.

"There's a lot of stress relief stuff in there."

"Any magic spells to make my parents disappear?"

Arthur's eyebrows pinched together so fast they looked like caterpillars going for a kiss.

"I've been out of that phase for two years. Let it go."

"But you were such a good- What was it? Wizard?"

"Just read your book Bon _Dick."_

Lukas just smiled and started read.

They were silent for a while before a sudden thought hit Arthur. 

"Wait, did you just get me off topic on purpose?"

Lukas hummed a non-answer and just flipped to a new page.

"Lukas", Arthur's stern voice commanded.

"Alright fine", he sighed, snapping his book shut, "What were we talking about?"

This time he was only met by a stronger glare.

Lukas huffed and purposefully met his friend's eyes.

"Okay, I may or may not still be put out by this whole soulmate mirror thing."

"Why?"

Another glare, this time with the roles reversed.

"Just tell me, and be truthful this time. You know you can tell me anything."

Lukas swallowed, debating his options.

"Like I said, I wanted to have it someone I already knew. Almost ninety nine percent of the school is going to have already met their soulmate today and I'm one of the only kids going to be alone. Especially the only Junior."

"First of all, you're over exaggerating. Second of all you don't have to be alone", Arthur sighed gently placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Just because some of us are meeting our soul mates doesn't mean we're going to start ignoring you. Would you suddenly drop everything if _you_ met your soulmate today?"

"Well..."

"Don't answer that."

The pair shared a sarcastic chuckle.

Before Arthur could press on, through the loudspeaker, a nasally voice squawked, "Lukas Bondevik, please report to the main office, your parents are here to pick you up.

Lukas made a face at the ceiling, as if he could glare the office clerk into retracting her statement.

"You're missing chess club?"

"Yeah."

"Party tonight?"

"Yes, this time it's a party for insanely rich people who would rather spend their money on lavish parties than something productive."

The sarcasm in his voice was practically lethal.

"At least you've got money. I'm a scholarship kid. Like, one of the lowest guys on the prep school food chain. I just dragged you down with me."

Lukas sighed. There barely was a day when Arthur didn't mention Lukas being rich and not him.

"Mr. Bondevik, are you going to gather your things and go or not?"

He was bringing to hate his teacher.

With a murmured swear, Lukas stood to leave. 

"See you tomorrow?"

"If Francis and/or his parents haven't smothered me to death, yes."

"You know they love you."

* * *

 

Pushing his way out the door, his chauffeur closely in tow, Lukas glared at the insanely long limo in his school driveway.

"Just another way to show off our money I guess", he murmured to himself barely out of hearing range of the driver.

Sliding into the back, Lukas pulled out his mirror.

It was getting a bit tarnished from the few years of use, the silver didn't gleam as nearly as brightly as it used to and the Emeralds embedded inside seemed reflect his dull mood.

While attempting to calculate how much it had cost his parents to get him a solid silver mirror, he was interrupted.

"Master Lukas?"

He debated on pretending to not have heard him, but his consciousness won out.

"Yes?"

"Your parents would like me to ask how your 'Meet and Greet' day went."

"Well you know we can't exactly, 'meet and greet' because of last year, but nothing really happened anyway."

"Really? I thought for sure this would be the year."

The blond rolled his eyes.

"It's not like he would have recognized me first if I had seen him."

"Him?"

Lukas' breath caught in his throat.

"Please don't tell them," he whispered, suddenly feeling very small.

Glancing in the mirror, the driver gave him a reassuring look.

"As you wish, I know it can be hard to talk to them before a party."

Lukas pursed his lips.

Hard didn't describe it. If he tried to tell them his soulmate was a guy, a person who couldn't help produce a heir to the so called, 'Bondevik fortune', they would totally flip out and halt everything to fix his 'problem.'

Why couldn't he have been born into a normal family? Who gives a shit if your kid isn't yours by blood or whatever? Rich people, that's who.

"Don't worry too much, sir. It might be a little bit of a daunting task, but you can't deny the mirrors."

Easy for him to say.

But he was right though.

Turning back to his mirror he made eye contact with the bright eyed teen with insanely spiky hair.

Feeling a bit foolish, he quietly hissed towards his reflection, "I don't care if I have to do this on my own. I'm going to find you," before gently touching his lips to the cool glass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is way too long. I just wanted to dive a bit into Arthur's story and ended up going overboard.  
> Spoiler: This is the last time he appears except for a mention later.


	3. Totally Not Filler Content

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I promise this isn't supposed to be a slow burn.

"But you're the ones who called me!"

The exasperated whine echoed loudly enough that even at the end of the driveway, Mathias could hear his partner's trouble.

"I don't care, this is our business and you should but out of it!" the Ukrainian huffed unsuccessfully crossing her arms over her large chest.

"This is none of your concern," the thinner of the two hummed angrily, fixing the man with a cold glare.

Alfred turned and gave the other policeman a pleading look.

Mathias simply shrugged his shoulders and put his hands up in surrender, he was only here to prevent a physical fight. After the last time, it would take a lot of reasoning to get him even close to the 'psycho sisters', as they had been dubbed by none other than Alfred. 

Alfred opened his mouth to yell at his partner but startled as a large hand squeezed his shoulder from behind. 

"Do not worry I will hopefully prevent any more calls to your station. My sisters do get a little high strung when they are intoxicated. They should hopefully cause you no more harm."

The words were chuckled and matched with a warm smile as Ivan attempted to assure the annoyed police officer.

Alfred shied away from the touch and grumpily pulled his jacket in further.

Glancing back at the two arguing sisters, he sighed and locked eyes with the man in front of him.

"This is the second time this week, Ivan. If one of you issue a complaint about me not mediating again, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble. Please, please, if you really need my help don't get mad at me for 'interfering'. 

He made air quotes around the last word.

Ivan tried to speak again but the American officer was having none of it.

"Next time I get called in, I'm making a few arrests for disturbing the peace", he snapped trying to force himself to the giant man's eye level.

The Russian's eyes darkened and he leaned in nearly touching noses with Alfred.

"That will not be necessary officer. Have a nice evening."

Alfred opened his mouth to make another comment, but was roughly pulled back by Mathias.

"We just got a call from Beilsmidt, Gil wants us to go check out a car wreck at Cheuanne and 9th."

The officer pulled his partner's hand off his shoulder.

He began to follow Mathias to the car but stopped and turned around.

"Remember what I said Braginski."

Ivan let slip a sly smile.

"Of course, Officer Jones."

* * *

 

Finally settling into the car, Alfred made a show of sighing and slumping further into his seat. An act that Mathias chose to ignore.

After a few minutes of starring at the road, he noticed they were on 32nd street, way further away from 9th then they were at the house.

"Isn't 9th back that way?", Alfred questioned raising an eyebrow at his apparently illiterate partner.

Mathias rolled his eyes and checked his rearview mirror. 

"I said that to pull you out of a fight. You get so riled up when talking to Ivan. Kiku would have killed me if you came home with a black eye. The little dude scares me."

Alfred returned the eye roll. 

"He wasn't trying to kill you, we just happened to walk in when he was cleaning his sword."

"Isn't it called a Katana?"

"Whatever it is I'm sure it costs more than I make in a year."

"You need to lighten up. So what if your husband is a board member of one of the largest companies in America? You still kick ass."

Alfred nodded. "Yeah! So what if he could buy  my entire neighborhood without blinking. I get to respond to prank calls and reports of drunk sisters and that make it all worth it."

"Oh cram it ya big baby."

"Why don't you?

The pair chuckled and returned to silence.

"Y'know..." Alfred purred, drawing out his words.  "We've been working together for a few months now and I still haven't met your other half."

Mathias flinched.

"Welcome to the club."

Alfred finally raised from his pouty slump and turned full body towards the driver.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I know it's weird, but I haven't gotten a chance to travel or anything since my mom died, so I've never met him. I've never even left the state."

Alfred swallowed his words, remembering the last time he had voiced his pity on his partner. Not a fun day.

"Hmm... well feel free to invite yourself to dinner sometime. Kiku makes rockin' sushi. Just don't get jealous."

He laughed the last sentence while giving his partner a light punch to the arm.

"Yeah, I'll try not to be jealous of the sword wielding, anime weeaboo."

This time Alfred purses his lips and crossed his arms.

"There's nothing wrong with liking anime and he's Japanese. He can't be a weaboo", he huffed looking and acting like a child.

"I know, I'm just messing with you."

"At least I have someone to go with to the policeman's ball tomorrow."

Mathias jumped almost swerving the car.

"Shit, that's tomorrow? I thought it was next week!"

"Well if you don't kill us in a car wreck first, yes it is tomorrow!" Alfred shouted, gripping the side bars for dear life. 

"Damn."

"Forgot to rent a tux?"

Mathias sighed.

"Yes."

"Aren't you old friends with Berwald, the manager over at the hotel we always get asked to do security for? Just ask him to borrow one of his and get it temporarily tailored."

"We were never really good friends. We were just in the same classes all the time. We just end up talking every time he requests us for his events because we are bored."

"Oh."

"Anyway, I don't really want to go. Most everyone is going with their partner and I'd feel weird going alone. Even if I had my partner, the parties aren't as fun now that the sponsors get to come too."

"Dude, no one likes the sponsors, it's a given. But you should go, maybe you'll make a new friend or something sappy like that."

"Or maybe I'll finally meet my true love," Mathias sighed dramatically fluttering his eyelashes and putting his hand over his heart.

The two continued laughing until they pulled the car into the station.

The pair walked in, Mathias suddenly worried for his companion's physical health as he spied Ludwig giving them death glares.

Before he could voice his concerns, a loud voice barked across the office. 

"Jones, get your sorry ass in here!"

Alfred filched then sighed, realizing why he was getting called in.

"Not again", he murmured and bolted towards the Commissioner's office, ready for another tongue lashing. Just another turn of this vicious cycle.

Mathias chuckled settling into his desk to write his report of the indecent. Ludwig would kill him if it was late.

"Hey Mat!"

The Dane jumped as his coworker popped up behind him.

"Just got back from mediating again?"

"Yep, just finished my report", he proclaimed proudly slamming down his pen."

"Great, I need some awesome beer."

"Does it have to be awesome? I've got plans tomorrow."

Gil raised an eyebrow at that.

"Please tell me you're not going to the policeman's ball are you?"

"Why not?"

"Don't you now those things are like, the number one target for Joker attacks?"

Chuckling at the batman reference, Mathias stood up.

"All right yes on the beer part, but you're buying the first round of 'awesome beer',"Mathias laughed in a bad attempt to mimic Gil's heavy accent.

The German frowned and crossed his arms.

"Not a chance, you always go for the most expensive one first."

Mathias simply smiled and dragged him to the door.

"Let's just get going. This is going to have to be a long night if I'm going to make it through tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cause this is filler! Filler night.  
> And no one's going to save you from the angst about to strike.
> 
> *Pastes Michael Jackson gif here.*


	4. Drunk on Love(Or Alcohol)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mathias is elated to find a familiar face at the ball. Drastically less so when the familiar face is streaked with tears.

_Worst decision ever._

The errant thought crossed Mathias' mind as he slowly rubbed his aching temples. The music immediately seemed to grow louder, causing the ache to amplify.

It is was just as he suspected. Way too many couples asking him where his partner was. Way too many sponsors crowding the already packed floor. It was a nightmare come to life. When this was over he was going to give his Partner one loud "I told you so."

Finally pulling himself away from a insanely boring conversation between Commissioner Beilschmidt and his hyper and cavity-inducingly sweet, Italian partner, he settled as far away from the music system as possible.

Pulling out his phone, his hands shook as he attempted to order a taxi. 

His phone was dead.

The smoke gray blazer barely muffled his scream of frustration.

He settled with a sigh into his hands as he leaned heavily against the coarse wall behind him.

After a long moment, he scanned for Alfred and Kiku. It would be a shame to make them leave early, but if his headache persisted, he was going to throw up and that really wasn't going to help his coworkers' opinion of him as an alcoholic, even though as a rule he only drank on Fridays after work. 

Why couldn't he have taken the stupid patrol car instead if carpooling? Curse his inability to deny a economically and environmentally sound idea.

Starting to get desperate, he gave up trying to find a quick ride home and made his way to the courtyard which was hopefully quieter.

His plan was worked for the most part, except for the fact that there was an obviously drunk party guest on the  only bench. 

Even with the pulsing music still ringing in Mathias' ears, he could hear muted giggles, even as the man's body was turned away from him, curled up with his legs against nearly his chest.

The Dane scanned the other party goer. Blond hair curled slightly at the ends making one particular curl stick out.

Even from behind it was very obvious that he was intoxicated from the empty cup laying on it's side next to him and the way he slowly swayed for no particular reason.

Mathias prepared to turn on his heel and either find someone with a working phone or drag Alfred and Kiku out of the party.

His initial plan was canceled as his conscious nagged at him to check on the party goer. 

It would not go over to have someone die from alcohol poisoning or a DWI at or after a policeman's ball. Especially if he was an officer who was just looking to escape the stress of the office. 

Making the short walk over to the front of the bench, he prepared to lightly tap the party goer on the shoulder when the sounds became more clear.

He was crying. Huge sobs jolted his body as he buried his face further into his knees which were nearly pressed into his chest.

Debating on whether to try and talk to him, Mathias moved around to his backside. At least he was in a safer place if the man tried to take a cheap shot at him.

With a deep breath and a steady stance, he tapped the strange man's shoulder.

The blond didn't even look up.

The only notable change was his crying that stopped for a second but immediately returned to its original strength.

"Hey, are you okay?" Mathias prompted.

The man shook his head and hoarsely slurred, "I hate rich."

Surprised and mildly confused with the lack of completion of his statement the Dane gripped the pale blonde's shoulder and took a wild guess at what he was saying

"I know I hate the sponsor guys too. But we should really get you home. Are you here with someone?"

Mathias resisted the urge to flinch as suddenly the crying became louder.

"Hey man," he sighed trying to calm him down. "I know it's kinda late and you're probably drunk, but I need you to..."

He was cut off by the man suddenly stiffening up and whipping his head around.

He made an attempt to form a sentence but his bleary eyed statement was cut off by his own wide eyed open mouth gaze.

Mathias furrowed his brow and opened his mouth only to be cut off by the same reaction.

"You, you see it too?" the man croaked out momentarily broken out of his drunken stupor.

"Yeah, you usually look a little more sober, dude, but..." Mathew made an attempt at a joke.

"Lukas"

"Okay, Lukas, I'm Mathias."

The pair started at each other for a few moments studying the faces they had known since their teen years.

Mathias prepared himself to make another joke, when Lukas suddenly slumped backwards.

Matthias barely moved fast enough to catch him and rest his head on his shoulder.

"Lukas? How many drinks did you have?"

"Dunno. More than three," he slurred turning his body so that he was resting most of his weight on Mathias' chest.

"I should get you home."

"Nooooo," he whined, "I don't wanna lose you. I just got you.

Mathias sighed. No buts about it, he was completely drunk.

"You're not gonna lose me. How about this. Let me use your phone to call a cab and I'll take you home."

"Can I still get your number?" he slurred looking up at the Dane with pleading eyes.

"Sure buddy."

Sloppily, Lukas pushed his unlocked phone into Mathias' hand.

Completing his promise, Mathias typed rapidly into the phone adding a selfie for reference incase Lukas didn't remember the night's events.

Reading the confirmation on the taxi, he sent a text to Alfred explaining the situation and he curled one arm under his dazed partner and used the second one to help right him.

"Come on Lukas. Let's get you home."

Pushing his way through the party, the pair made it to the cab.

"Where ya headed?"

Mathias read the address off the phone.

"That's a pretty far out of my range buddy, it'll cost you extra."

"Fine," Mathias growled.

As the long car ride dragged on, Lukas struggled to stay awake by asking really random questions.

"Where do ya work?"

"I'm a police officer."

Lukas lifted his head from Mathias' shoulder to peer at him.

"Then why were you at the party."

Mathias raised an eyebrow.

"Because it was a policeman's ball. Those things are kinda held for us."

"Oh, that make sense. Do you like cats?" Lukas questioned slumping back against his partner.

"Uh, yeah, I'm more of a dog person but cats are cute."

"Good, I like dogs better too," he sighed muffling the answer in Mathias' jacket.

The rest of the drive is rode in silence as Lukas curled up against Mathias' side mumbling something about glitter cannons.


	5. Taxi Rides and Topiaries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few more pieces fall into place.

Mathias himself started to nod off when the taxi driver piped up.

"Yo, you sure this is the right address?"

"I'm pretty sure," Mathias said, confused.

"Well, tipsy over here is packing a lot more dough than he lets on."

"What do you mean by th-"

Mathias was cut off a he gazed upon the giant fence they had come upon.

"Uh, Lukas. Buddy wake up. Are you sure this is the right address?"

Lukas slowly lifted his head and gazed sleepily at the gate and the tunnel of darkened trees beyond.

"Mmhm, let me put in the code. Just move up I can't reach it from here."

He leaned across Mathias' lap using long delicate fingers to tap in an overly complicated pattern into the keypad hidden in the ivy along the rock wall, going through the motions more than reading the numbers.

The large gates swung open noiselessly.

The driver and Mathias shared a long worried look between the two as the clank of the metal gates closed behind them.

Mathias subconsciously grabbed Lukas' hand as he watched the forest around him.

"Don't worry, my parents aren't home. Otherwise they might be a little mad that I let you guys in," Lukas giggled.

Mathias rolled his eyes.

"If you act like this while you're drunk I wonder what you act like sober."

Lukas stiffened and slowly turned to his left.

"I'm drunk?"

Silence hung heavy until Lukas lost his composure and dissolved into happy giggles.

Finally after an emotional eternity, they pulled up in front of a massive house. Rolling around the roundabout the cab driver murmured, "wouldn't mind living here," as he gazed across the lush landscape.

Lukas ignored the comment and pulled out his wallet.

"Hey, I told you I was paying, didn't I?" Mathias protested." 

Lukas just drunkenly gestured to the three story mansion behind them and threw a few hundreds into the front seat.

He fumbled with the handle and pushed his way out of the cab, promptly tripping over his feet and landing on his face.

"Lukas!?" Mathias gasped as he fumbled to slide across the seat and get out the open door.

But Lukas was already upright (as he could be) and started to pull on Mathias' sleeve towards the house.

"Wait what are you doing?" Mathias asked pulling back and took Lukas with him, pulling him into a partial hug.

"You're supposed to say with me tonight."

Mathias sighed and looked around taking in more of the scenery. 

It was a pretty good offer.

He had the choice of, A) taking an hour long ride home with a disgruntled taxi driver (who might make him pay again) to an empty scrap heap that barely met health codes, or B) staying here when he would mostly likely get to sleep in a soft warm bed curled up with the person supposed to be his soulmate.

He abruptly chose B) by kicking the cab door shut and giving a curt nod at the driver.

As he sped away, Mathias pried Lukas' arms from around his waist and motioned him towards the front door.

Reaching the door, the Dane's heart dropped. Lukas was obviously impaired right now. What if he disarmed the security system wrong? What if suddenly, a bunch of cops show up and take him away for breaking and entering. Just imagine that headline.

Crooked Cop Breaks Into Mansion.

Even if he managed to convince them of the truth, it still made him look creepy, taking some drunk rich guy home and walking in with him.

His internal conflict was muted as Lukas finally was able to get his key into the lock (after the 20th time).

The Dane held his breath for a moment, but let it out as no alarms went off.

His peace was interrupted when Lukas shouted into the echoing halls, "Emillllll! I'm home! And guess who I found!"

Mathias was on the verge of panicking.

"Who is Emil?"

"Just my baby bro, don't worry he's gonna love you, I already do."

Feeling his cheeks flush red, Mathias wanted to bury his head into his shirt at Lukas' flirty comment.

"Lukas? What are you doing home so early? And why do you sound intoxicated?"

Mathias froze again, the newly found color draining as he worried a grove into his lip.

"Lukas why-?"

The boy(man?) who was supposedly Emil was cut off as he rounded the corner.

For a moment the silver blond panicked, ready to make a move for the alarm before the face registered in his head.

He squinted angrily.

"I told you this would happen Lukas," he sighed taking the last few steps to his brother.

He gently draped the arm not held by Mathias over his shoulder allowing him to relax.

"I told you life finds a way. Now because of your little habit of drinking, Mr... uhh-"

"Kohler"

"Kohler now thinks you're a sloppy drunk."

Mathias tried to reassure him.

"It's okay, I tend to get a little overzealous with my own drinking, too."

Emil glanced back as the trio finally made it to Lukas' room.

"He at least didn't make a complete fool of himself did he?"

"Well he spent most of the car ride either playing with my hair or asking me really random questions, so no, not a complete fool."

Emil sighed.

"At least this isn't the worst I've seen him drunk. He hates going to parties but our parents make him go anyway. He likes to drink heavily just to spite them. It has resulted in less than stellar news and tabloid articles."

Mathias nodded listening to the story as he tucked Lukas into bed. He was never really an avid tabloid reader so no wonder he hadn't seen him.

The pair left the room, but Mathias was immediately cornered again.

Emil spent a long time slowly looking the Dane up and down almost as if he were appraising a show horse or a pair of diamond earrings. Emotionless eyes giving nothing and everything away at the same time.

Suddenly he reached forward and grabbed Mathias' jacket, rubbing the fabric between his fingers.   
  


"You need to fire your fashion consultant immediately, this style of jacket is extremely out of date."

"It's not my jacket, a friend let me borrow it for the party," Mathias murmured turning shyly away.

Emil raised his eyebrows then lowered them into expression of annoyance.

"What group are you with?"

"What do you mean?"

"Which company or group did you represent at the party tonight?"

"I still have no idea what you're talking about."

"Who do you work for?" Emil finally snapped throwing up his hands.

"I'm a police officer I was at the party because it was- ya know-a Policeman's Ball."

Emil stiffened, eyes widening. Then put his hand over his eyes.

"Oh great, I got my hopes up."

"What?"

Emil turned back to him, fixing him with a glare.

"I was _hoping_ that since you were at the party tonight, you would have some kind of credibility. Now this is going to be much harder than I planned for."

"Why is this such a big deal?" Mathias growled finally fed up with the strange actings of his future brother in law. Taking the advantage of his height and policeman's glare, he wore down Emil's placid façade.

"Alright, just calm down. I was saying it like that because of our parents. They are very strict about who we associate with. When he was still him high school they even made him stop seeing his best friend because _he_ stopped going to our private school. It apparently didn't give us a good enough image to be associating with anyone less than famous. The only reason that I got away with my significant other is because his older brother runs Wang corporations and he is on the board. Our parents aren't too excited about us having male soulmates either."

Mathias leaned back taking in the whole picture. He had his own reasons to complain about his crappy life, but it didn't register how bad Lukas had it.

"So are they going to try to kick me out or say I'm not his soulmate or something?"

"No, they're probably just going to force you to change every aspect of your life, until you are barely the man used to be and you completely and utterly hate yourself . They did that Lukas and me.Why not do that to you it'll make you happy just like us?"

His lips twisted into a cynical sneer that was supposed to be a smile.

Mathias tried to back up further but was stopped by the wall.

Emil saw that and immediately backtracked. 

"My apologies. It's not that bad. Look, it's been a long night, I've had a crap ton of paperwork to do and my brother coming home steaming drunk isn't helping. In all honestly, when he wakes up tomorrow, he's probably going to grab a suitcase, pack some clothes and ask to go live with you. He'd be happy to get away from his parents."

Mathias forced a chuckle. 

"Well, seeing as you probably pay your garbage man more than the city pays me, I think he might want to rethink that. I don't even have an actual car besides my patrol car."

Emil squinted angrily again.

"Hey, don't get mad at me, get mad at my pay cut," Mathias retaliated quickly putting up his hands in surrender.

Emil sighed and turned down another hallway beckoning Mathias behind him.

"You may stay in our master guestroom. Please use the shower in the bathroom connected to it. You smell like a bar. You may use any products or spa luxuries that are in there. I will go grab some of our father's old nightclothes which may or may not fit you. They will possibly be too small seeing that I don't believe anyone in my family has ever been as tall as you. I will leave them on your bed for you for when you get out of shower. And I will have another set of clothing for the morning laid out."

Mathias nodded disappearing into the room Emil gestured to.

"Just a second, Mathias ."

He backtracked slowly, peering around the corner.

"If Lukas gets a little mopey in the morning it's not your fault. This whole soulmates things has taken a rather large toll on him. I don't believe he's seen a reflective mirror since he left high school. He shattered the one he was given freshman year and just never looked back. Our parents always made us feel guilty for not collecting some trophy wife that would woo the crowds with their dazzling smile. I never let it get to me, but Lukas has always been hard on himself."

Mathias blushed realizing how bad he had made his soulmate's life.

"Uh, okay, just give me a heads up if I'm saying stupid stuff tomorrow. I don't exactly dazzle people but I can made them laugh."

Emil nodded then took off down the hallway.

Stripping himself of the ugly grey outfit he had borrowed from Alfred, which was almost two sizes too small, he stepped into the bathroom in his underwear. 

Shocked at the relatively mute, tiled decor, he shuffled over to what looked like a tall bath tub. The bathroom was still as big as his entire apartment, but it looked plain enough with a large window to the garden just high enough to that he could see out but no one could really see in.

Fixing his eyes on the strange knobs and levers that were supposedly the controls to the shower, he twisted one.

He barely had time to muffle a yelp as cold water poured from the ceiling onto his head, flattening his spiky hair.

He could hear muffled laughter from the direction of the bedroom as he frantically turned off the water.

"Don't worry, I did the same thing too after the remodel," Emil called through the door.

"Thanks for the heads up," Mathias called back sarcastically.

"What are brothers for?"

Mathias sighed, returning to the odd shower but immediately dropped the negative feeling.

Emil called him his brother. Mathias beamed. At least the tension between them had loosened.

* * *

 

Finally getting out of the shower smelling like he had just walked through the perfume aisle at Macy's and tugging at a towel that felt like it was made out of bunny fur (it wasn't, he checked), he trudged over to the bed ready to crash. 

Pulling on the silky shirt and pants on, ignoring his lack of underwear and the fact that his clothes had disappeared leaving some ugly turtleneck and Khakis in their place while he was in the shower, he flopped down on the bed.

Fumbling for the switch on the lamp near his head he glanced around again at the ornate decorations of the room.

He suddenly felt out of place and strange in this odd world of money.

Making himself worried, he tucked a feather pillow between his legs and curled in on it. Taking slow breaths to calm down, he found himself nearly crushing the pillow.

Suddenly a calming thought popped into his head. 

It was going to be okay. He was to be okay. He found Lukas. Out of the billions of people on the planet, his soulmate just fell into his lap and now he was fast asleep in the same house. They would wake up tomorrow, have some fancy people's breakfast and start over, assuming Lukas will remember absolutely nothing of their previous encounter.

Letting happy images flit through his head, Mathias let go of his choke hold on the pillow.

He fell asleep imagining their first kiss.


	6. Let's Try This Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lukas almost throws up on himself and Mathias gets a rude awakening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definate physical verbal and mental abuse warning for this chapter and beyond. The physical is only referenced but still bad.

Lukas woke up to a very loud and very painful migraine.

"I've got to find a less painful way of pissing off my parents," he murmured to himself as he sat up slowly and tried to get his bearings.

Hmm, this isn't as bad as usual, maybe Emil made me drink some water before I fell asleep. I swear if he wasn't always keeping tabs on me I'd be dead in a ditch somewhere.

Suddenly curious about the night before he attempted to recall what had happened.

This ill conceived attempt was dissolved as the rush of memories caused another wave of pain and nausea to crash into him, making his stomach churn.

Barely grabbing his trash bin in time, he abruptly puked up whatever he had eaten the last night.

He grabbed a handful of tissues a wiped his mouth and chin with a disgruntled sigh.

With little grace, he stumbled into his bathroom, quickly turning on the shower.

Cold water poured over his head driving away the last bit of nausea.

"What the hell happened?" he grumbled thoroughly scrubbing his face free of the resonating smell of vomit. His memories were hazy and disorienting, as if they were filmed using a camera that his great grandmother would have seen.

With reserved optimism, he picked apart what was slightly less faded than the obscure images that threatened to cause another wave of nausea.

The only correlation? Two beautiful sky blue eyes. Whether they were sad or confused or even happy, they were the only clear memory he had of the night before.

Somewhere in the back of his mind it made Lukas' heart ache.

He chewed his lip as he dried off and stepped towards the large mirror hanging on the wall.

What he saw was nothing new. Except for the large dark circles marking his glass blue eyes and made him look like a raccoon. With another sharp bite into the tender flesh of his mouth, he crouched down to the cabinets at his feet.

With a gruff motion, he pulled out the drawer closest to the floor and reached as deep into the wooden furniture as his arm could reach.

His hand touched cool metal, a stark contrast to the lukewarm wood that surrounded it. With a grunt, he ripped the tape holding it and retracted his hand so he could bring the disk to his face.

A spiderweb of cracks extended from the edge where Lukas had once let out his frustration by throwing the reflective object out a window. The silver plating was even dented.

His stomach churned when he flipped it object over.

The same blue eyes that were now plaguing his memories of the night before stared back at him mimicking his tired expression.

The shock burning through the last of his grogginess, he inhaled hard enough that his lungs hurt.

What did he do last night? Did he just mess up his first impression with his soulmate? Oh God, now he probably thinks he's an alcoholic rich boy who does stupid stuff for attention.

He ran back to his room grabbing the set of clothes his brother must have laid out for him.

Just before he reached the door a loud knock came from the other side.

"Lukas?"

It was Emil.

"You've been up for almost half an hour, Mathias is getting worried."

Matching a hazy memory, Lukas realized something.

Mathias, that what his soulmate's name was.

Familiarity bubbled at the back of his mind and he dared sigh in relief.   
"Just a minute Emil."

He could hear a muffled huff outside the door.

"He's in the kitchen. I'm going back to my room. I'm not really in the mood to deal with this after staying up half the night worrying about you."

Lukas could hear the scuff and the beginning of a step.

"Thank you."

The words were hoarse, soft, and shaky. A statement that rarely left Lukas's mouth and yet it felt so right.

He could hear Emil pause his steps and ponder the words.

"Just get down there. The doofus is going to make a mess."

Lukas sighed and decided he was grateful for his ability to translate Emil's 'you're welcome'.  
With renewed vigor, he turned back to his room.

He had to make a better second impression. Whatever he had done last night was probably not a vision of excellence or anything close to it.

Bolting back to his bathroom, he picked up his toothbrush in one hand and started scrubbing the acidic taste out of his mouth.

A loud buzz alerted him that his daily calendar had updated and was particularly annoyed that he had ignored it.

With a swift motion he snatched his phone off the counter and brought it to his eye level.

Pleased he had made sure to not schedule anything for the morning seeing as it was almost one anyway, he scrolled further into the day, ready to maneuver his schedule so that he could spend the rest of the day with his soulmate.

Suddenly pausing, he slowly scrolled back up, mentally begging for his eyesight to have failed him.  
It hadn't.

In bolded letters, directly under the section for 1 pm that day, was a reminder.

Mom and Dad home

Immediately spitting out the last of the toothpaste and wiping his mouth off on a towel, he took off in a dead sprint towards the stairs and then the kitchen, shoes clicking on the floor with every step.

After nearly tripping twice, and slamming into the wall once, he made it to the ground floor.

It was going to be okay. Their flight wasn't even supposed to be in just yet. It would still take them half an hour to get home even after getting their luggage. He could make it in time.

A quick babble of small talk, a persistent suggestion to go for coffee and he could extend his time frame for fixing this whole mess by at least two days if he could convince Mathias to go home afterwards.

Feeling a slightly lightened mood, Lukas paused outside the doorway and took a deep breath to steady himself.

With a confident stride he strutted into the room and purred a cool, "good morning."

"It's actually after noon, but hello to you too Lukas."

He suddenly stiffened, nearly injuring his neck swiveling towards the feminine voice.

Sitting to his left with horrifyingly professional demeanors was none other then the last two people he wanted to see.

Lukas immediately covered his terror with a cool gaze.

"Hello mother, father. I thought your flight wasn't supposed to get in until one," he croaked awkwardly.

"It wasn't, but it landed much earlier thanks to a strong jet stream. But not to worry, we've had a lovely time talking with Mr. Kohler here while you finished your late shower."

Flinching at the realization, he glanced sheepishly to his left where Mathias sat with a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Take a seat, we have much to talk about."

His mother's tone was just as it always was, a boatload of sugar covering the venomous undertones.

"Yes ma'am," he murmured slinking down into the seat between his parents and Mathias.

He heard a chuckle from his left.

"You call your mom, ma'am? Do you call your dad, sir?"

The tone was easy going and playful, but according to the reaction of rest of the room, the statement held more effect than he realized.

Lukas' mother squinted at the awkwardly tall man partially blocked by her son.

"In this house we have manners and treat each other with respect. What, perchance, do you call your mother?"

Realizing he had stepped over some invisible line for the first time since their morning conversation started, he resisted the dual urges to scoot backwards and snap back at the same time.

Considering his options, he put on a somber expression and played the pity role.

"Well, my mom isn't around anymore and when she was it didn't really feel like it. We were always distant after my dad died. Losing your soulmate kinda does that to you. But when I did talk to her I usually just called her mom, like most kids do with their parents."

Watching the Bondevik's shocked reactions, Mathias had to swallow his shameful pride at beating them at their shame game.

Lukas' father spoke up first.

"My apologies for bringing up an uncomfortable subject, but in our family, we wish to stay in practice of good manners."

Mathias huffed eyes growing colder. There was a definite 'either or' way these people talked. You were either their esteemed colleague or you were gum beneath their shoes.

"Well in regular families, we treat each other like something more than a formality. And unless you call your kids sir also, you aren't treating each other with respect, they are treating you with respect, you are merely treating them like a human being."

The tension was really building in the large kitchen, almost threading to burst into who knows what.  
Before that happened, Mathias' phone rang.

With a sharp, "excuse me," he stood up and moved outside the room.

The moment he was out of hearing range, Lukas' parents began their usual criticism rant between each other.

"I can't believe the nerve of him," Lukas' mom started out.

"I agree, how rude can he be."

"We have to figure out how to get Lukas out of this."

Feeling his stomach clench Lukas made an attempt to pipe up.

"Don't jump to conclusions please. He's probably just-"

"Stay out of our conversations, Lukas!" both parents snapped at the same time.

He immediately slunk back into his chair, flinching away from the memory of the sharp smack he usually received as punishment for angering his parents.

Thankfully it didn't come as they were too busy trying to think of a way to alter a video mirror to look like a reflective mirror and place another image in Lukas' reflection.

Lukas's stomach twisted into knots.

Interrupting probably the conversation about the worst thing that could possibly happen I the near future, Mathias stomped back into the kitchen and ran a hand through his oddly ungelled hair.

"That was the commissioner calling. Apparently, Mayor Kirkland wants to hold a sudden press conference and I'm one of about ten officers not too hungover from last night to work."

Lukas was startled out of this surprise of recognizing his old friend's name and stared blankly at him.

"You're a police officer?"

Whipping his head to look at his soulmate, he finally let his anger get the best of him and snapped, "Yes, I actually told you that last night, several times. Maybe if you weren't too drunk to remember your own name, you might know that."

Suddenly fear and guilt shot though his body as he watched Lukas' face contort into a expression of shame and discomfort.

Realizing his mistake Mathias's own face contorted into its own mixture of shame.

"Lukas," he sighed gently, before,swiftly closing the space between them and kneeling down to his level.

He took his lover's face in his hands despite the hot glares he felt at his back.

"I'm sorry, this has been a really uncomfortable and frustrating day for me and I took it out on you. I shouldn't have done that. I understand better than anyone how easy it is to lose yourself in alcohol."  
Lukas sheepishly looked up and forced a half smile.

"I'll forgive you if you stop squishing my cheeks together," he murmured.

Immediately releasing his hold, Mathias moved his hand to squeeze Lukas' shoulder.

"I promise I'll try to come back up here tomorrow if I can. I put my phone number in your phone last night and my home address is in there too. I'm not allowed to have my phone on while I'm on the clock so I'm not gonna answer until late probably. But if you really need to talk, go ahead and text me. I might get a break later. If all else fails, just go to my house. It's probably the size of your kitchen, but it's at least a roof over your head."

He nearly blinded Lukas with a grin. "Okay?"

"Okay," Lukas said, his voice cracking mid sentence.

Releasing his grip, Mathias straightened up and took the few steps to the doorway.

Rethinking his strategy, he turned slightly back to his disgruntled in-laws.

"I'm sorry we ended our conversation on a bad note. I really did want to make a good impression, but I'm not going to lie about myself and my beliefs just to please you."

And he was gone.

The echo of the front door slamming sounded for much longer than comfortable.

Lukas didn't dare look up, he was terrified but at the same time touched by how easily his soulmate transitioned from anger to a gentle demeanor towards him.

Feeling like he was going to burst if he didn't do something, Lukas stood up and made his way to the door.

"Hold it right there young man."

His heart dropped to his feet.

Slowly turning around, he squeaked out, "yes ma'am?"

"Give me your phone."

With a painful flinch, he reached into his pocket, and slowly pulled out the electronic device.  
Manicured fingers snatched it away.

"You are not to contact Mr. Kohler unless you are given specific permission. You live under our house, you listen to us and live by our rules."

Lukas gave a curt nod and made another move for the door.  
This time he stopped of his own accord.

"You do realize I'm twenty three, right? I don't need you to baby me. I can make my own decisions. I didn't get a degree in business management to be babied by my parents. You two need to stop ruling over my life."

He made it out the front door just fast enough that his parents' angry shouts were muffled slightly. Not enough, though, that their fury wasn't apparent.

Swiftly running into the garage he grabbed the first set of keys he could snatch off the rack on the wall.  
Pressing the unlock button, he began walking in the direction of the car that clicked.

"Really?" He growled to himself glaring at the sleek black Porsche he that was the source of the sound of the doors unlocking.

Hearing a noise from the door to the house, he gave in and slid into the passenger seat.

Pulling into the stretch of floor that lead down towards the garage door, he caught the sight of Emil out of the corner of his eye.

He allowed his guilt to override his need to leave and stopped the car.

Pushing open the door, he snapped, "get in, now."

Pealing out of the garage and cross the driveway towards the gate, he didn't even glance at the doorway where his parents probably stood, arms crossed, waiting for him to "come to his senses."

* * *

 

They drove in silence for a while before Emil finally spoke up.

"Where are we going?

Not taking his eyes off the road, Lukas said, "I'm taking you to your soulmate's house."

"Leon?"

"Yes Leon! Unless you have another soulmate stashed somewhere."

"You pissed off mom and dad didn't you?"

"Yes, and I really don't want you there to take the brunt of whatever they say or do."

Emil frowned and attempted to catch his brother's eyes.

"What are you going to do?"

"Mom took my phone, so I don't have Mathias' address. I'm just gonna go down to the police station in the town Mayor Kirkland runs and maybe get Mathias' address from them, he said that he was going to do some work as a bodyguard at the press conference today."

"As sensible as that is, I meant in general, after all of this. Mom and dad were furious. I was really scared when dad threw a plate at me. I don't know what they're going to do if you go back."  
Lukas hit the brakes hard enough to make the tires smoke.

"What!?" he snapped whipping around to look at his brother.

Emil flinched as Lukas took his face him his hand, tilting it so he could see the damage. His eye was already red and swollen, a small bleeding line was cut into the cheek beneath it. He was definitely going to have a black eye.

"Son of a bitch!" Lukas snapped slamming his hands on the steering wheel.

"Don't be mad, he was just-"

"Just nothing! Normal parents don't fucking throw plates at their kids. Normal parents don't treat their twenty year olds like children. Normal parents don't keep their kids inside and hidden from the world only to come out when they are told! Fucking normal parents aren't controlling freaks who verbally and physically abuse their kids to the point that they hate them! And normal parents don't try and change fate just because they don't like their kid's soulmate!"

His breath was becoming ragged and he ranted on.

"Those people are toxic, if we keep going back, we're just going to be miserable until the day we die!"  
With his tantrum over he slammed his fist on the steering wheel causing the horn to go off in a short almost comical burst.

After a silent moment, h felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Lukas, calm down. You're shaking."

Lukas slowly lifted his head to reveal two streams of tears running from the corners of his eyes.

"Oh Lukas," Emil sighed pulling his brother into the closet thing to a hug he could get in the compact sports car.

The moment was ruined by a car coming up the road and honking obnoxiously for them to move.

Returning to driving, Lukas replastered the look of cold anger as he stared at the road.

"Does that mean you're going to live with Mathias?"

"Yes."

"You realize it's going to be really hard. He already warned me that he doesn't have much money and it's going to be a really different living situation."

"I don't care, I'd rather be homeless then live another second under that roof."

"Just, just be careful. You can stay at the Wang's residence tonight at least. You know Yao sides with us against our parents. He'd probably start filling out adoption papers the moment we got there if we were still underage."

Finally letting himself relax at his brother's optimism, he let out a low sigh.

"I don't think I can do that. I have no idea what our parents might text Mathias now that they have my phone. He won't know it's not me and I'm worried."

"Oh, at least let me give you my wallet assuming you didn't grab your's, and my phone too incase you need to use it."

"Thanks, but text Leon first, we don't even know if they're home."

Emil did as he was told and after receiving a concerned reply and answer, he offered the phone and wallet again.

Graciously taking the items, Lukas glanced up at the road signs.

"Take a left at Finny street?"

"Yeah, the gate should be on the left."

Making to the house and dropping off Emil, Lukas only took a second to watch him make it up the stairs into the highly concerned and waiting arms of Leon. And to give a curt nod to Yao and his other siblings.

Pulling out of the driveway, he adjusted himself lower into his seat.

It was going to be a long drive.


	7. Coffee With a Cop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which, for a moment, Lukas' life becomes a coffee shop au.

Lukas shifted his weight and snuggled further into Mathias's side. 

Feeling the movement, the Dane pulled his soulmate in tighter.

"Too scary?" He purred, sounding so warm and loving. 

Lukas glanced up at the bad horror flick on the T.V.

"No, I wasn't really watching."

Mathias looked down and made a noise of discomfort before turning off the T.V.

"You feeling okay?"

Mildly annoyed at the sudden darkness that blackened his vision and blotted out his view of Mathias, Lukas responded, "Yeah, I'm still kinda worried about Emil."

"Well don't be. I'm sure Leon and his family are going to take care of him."

He gently squeezed him tighter.

"I know, but I'm still worried."

Removing his arm from Lukas' shoulder, Mathias pulled him into his lap. Almost suffocating amounts of heat washed over him. 

"It's going to be okay, I promise. It's going to be okay," he whispered almost as if reassuring himself.

Sighing contently Lukas pulled his lover into a gentle kiss, warm and comforting, just like it should-

Lukas was jolted awake by the loud knocking on his car door.

He blinked slowly for a moment, gathering his wits and gradually realized that his previous encounter had been nothing but a dream. And a damn good one at that.

Internally swearing at whoever woke him, he glared at the side window.

Outside he could see some stranger peering into the car. It was way too dark to see anything more than a silhouette and a wisp of white hair.

Wait, weren't the windows really tinted? How did they know someone was in the car?

His stomach dropped when he realized they might be checking to see if no one was in there so they could steal it.

Panicking, he attempted to sit up, only to succeed at stepping lightly on the gas.

The car lurched forward only a few inches in the parking space, but it was enough movement that it made the man outside stumble back and fall over.

Lukas almost physically facepalmed.

The car was still on (and for some reason still in drive). That's why the person knew there was someone in there.

He reached over and pulled the keys from the ignition robbing himself if the stifling amount of heat coming from the car's heater.

After watching for the man to stand up, Lukas gave in and opened the door, stepping out into the bitter winter air.

"Can I help you?"

Taken aback, the man didn't reach for Lukas' out stretched hand for a few long moments until he got his bearings.

He gratefully used Lukas to anchor himself and rose to his feet.

"Sorry about surprising you. I didn't realize the car was still in drive."

"That's alright. May I ask you a few questions about the car?"

"I don't really know about cars but-"

"It's not about how nice the car is. I want to know where you got it."

Lukas startled as a badge was placed under his nose.

"Oh, uh okay. But do you wanna get inside, it's kinda cold and even with a police officer with me, I don't really want to stand outside at night."

The officer glanced around then nodded and followed Lukas closely into the small 24 hour coffee shop. 

Thankfully, the only other people in the small store were the employees behind the counter.

Lukas ordered some coffee and threw down a couple of twenties while waving off the cashier's offer of change.

The police officer watched the transaction carefully.

Returning with the coffee, the pair sat down across from each other.

After a silent standoff filled by the excuse of coffee, Lukas caved first.

"What seems to be the problem officer?" he said sarcastically.

The pale policeman cracked a grin and offered his hand.

"Officer Beilschmidt, you can call me Gil."

"Alright Gil, is there a reason you decided to wake me up at-"

He paused to look at his watch.

"3 in the morning?"

"Sorry about the wake up. It's not really common to see a Porsche around here. I'm pretty sure it costs more than most of the houses in this area combined."

"Yeah, probably," Lukas said glancing out the barred window. It felt more like a prison than a coffee shop.

"The reason I stopped to check on you was I was making sure you weren't a drug dealer or a pimp."

Lukas raised an eyebrow.

"And you think I'm not?"

Gil laughed heartily and him off.

"Dude, I've lived in this area my entire life. If you were either, I'd know. You look more like a preppy college student."

Lukas frowned and shifted in his chair.

"This is possibly the second weirdest conversation I've ever had with a police officer."

"Second?"  
"The first had to be, 'hi, I'm your soulmate who just happened to live within an hour's drive of your house'."

Gil raised both eyebrows.

"Really?"

"Do I look like I'm awake enough to come up with a lie that elaborate?"

"Where's she now?"

"I actually don't know, that's why I'm here."

Gil squinted at Lukas giving off a feeling of disbelief.

Lukas sighed and made a short recap.

"We met at the policeman's ball the other day. I was too wasted to remember much, but he took me back to my house and slept over. Early this afternoon he and my parents got into a pissing contest which left them entirely hateful towards him and he left because he had to go back to work. My mom took my phone which had his address and number in it. I backed him up with another argument and I pretty much ran off without my phone or wallet and dragged my little brother out with me. I dropped him off at his soulmate's house then spent the next six hours driving around the county to each police station looking for him because apparently your computer system just happens to be down today."

"Why'd you bring your little brother?"

Confused that that was the only part of the story he needed clarification on, Lukas backtracked.

"My dad gets...physical when he's mad. I didn't realize when I let my brother in the car, but he already was developing a black eye after my dad threw a plate at him."

Gilbert looked alarmed.

"Why don't you leave then?"

Lukas rolled his eyes.

"I just did!"

"So you aren't going back?"

"Nope and neither is Emil, no matter what my parents do, despite the fact that's he's only nineteen, it would take a tank to get through his soulmate's family. They are a very tightly packed group."

"Oh, so you're going to stay with Mathias?"

"Yeah, that's why-"

Lukas stiffened when he registered what the officer had said.

Glaring a hole through his tablemate's  head, Lukas' voice dropped half an octave as he growled, " _How_ , exactly, do you know his name? And didn't you say _she_ earlier?"

Gil nerviously backed up a little.

"Mathias is a friend of mine from the force. I sometimes switch out with his patrol partner. He called me this morning and left me a message telling me all about what happened last night. I was too hungover to hear it until before six, but I kinda put two and two together. Especially since I've seen his reflection in windows before."

Lukas had to take a few breaths to calm down.

"If you know where it is, would you mind taking me there?"

"Sure I'll write the address down for-"

"No, can you actually take me in your car?"

"What about your's?"

"It belongs to my parents and for all I care, it could get stolen."

"So that's why there was a stolen car report on it."

Lukas frowned and raised his eyebrow again as he was taken aback slightly.

"You aren't a very good cop are you?"

Gilbert shrugged but continued.

"Okay, I'll report the car's whereabouts and 'escort you to a safe area' like a good cop. If anyone asks I'll say no one was around and the car was abandoned."

Lukas gave in to the officer's infectious positivity and smiled a bit.

The two waved goodbye to the mildly stunned and probably over caffeinated employee and walked back outside.

Lukas paused for a moment opening the Porsche and gathered the bundle of emergency money from the glove compartment and stuffed it in his pocket.

He lazily threw the keys into the grass a few feet away before locking the door and slamming it shut, giving himself a sense of finality.

Making a vague gesture at the officer, the two made their way over to the patrol car.

Thankful for the heat that the small car provided, Lukas almost didn't mind the fact that he had to sit in the front of the car with all the weird stuff.

"I've got to put in a quick report for this then it's a ten or fifteen minute drive, you okay until then?"  
Lukas hummed agreement and curled into himself.

He was asleep before they pulled out of the parking lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If y'all ever have any questions about the story or notice something out of place, feel free to comment, I crave that shit.


	8. Angst!

Mathias woke up in a cold sweat. With a painfully quick motion, he jerked himself up to a seated position. Almost forcefully, he put his hand over his heart to stop the hard and fast beating.

Dazed and mildly nervous, he stood up and dragged himself over to the tiny bathroom. 

With some effort, the water turned on and the Dane began splashing his face with cold water to rid himself of his fearful shivering.

"What had me so nervous?" he mused to himself while drying off with a towel.

Lukas was safe, the conference was uneventful, and he managed to pay for the heating bill this month. It was a pretty good run in his book.

Removing the last of the water, he stumbled back into bed, hoping to find sweet dreams there.

Unfortunately, his sleep was fitful and unsatisfactory.

* * *

 

Mathias was woken up again later in the morning by loud footsteps.

He cursed the thin walls and moved to go yell at whoever was up running around the hallways at 4 in the morning.

Before he made it to the door there was a sharp knock on it.

Blinking in surprise, he paused long enough to grab a pair of shorts that were hanging over the side of his bed and pick up his gun from the nightstand.

Quickly, he unlocked the door and swung it open just far enough to see outside cursing the fact that he never bothered to install a chain lock.

"Mathias?"

The Dane sighed and opened the door all the way.

"What's up Alfred? Why are you here at four in the morning?"

"I got stuck with the early shift because I couldn't make it to the conference."

"Oh, why are you..."

"This is where you live?"

Mathias jumped at the interruption and surprise question.

"Uh, yeah."

"Dude, you make just as much as me, how can you not afford a place better than this?"

Mathias shrugged.

"I'm still working on paying off the bank for when I payed for my mom's hospital bill. The few months after I lost my job really spiked the interest."

"Oh."

"But seriously dude, why are you here?"

Alfred's eyes widened and he smacked himself on his forehead.

"Sorry dude, I got sidetracked. And you're probably gonna think I'm selfish for not saying this first."

"Just...what is it?"

He paused and took a long look at the frowning American.

"You look really pale. Are you okay?"

Alfred visibly swallowed.

"Gilbert was in a car accident."

All traces of sleepiness wore off instantly.

"What? Is he okay, did he...ya know?"

Alfred looked so miserable as he shook his head.

"No, he broke his collarbone and fractured his upper left arm, but he's fine."

Mathias squinted in suspicion.

"I know we're sort of friends, but if he's fine, why did you decide to tell me in person at four in the morning? Shouldn't you go talk to his _usual_ patrol partner or maybe his spouse?"

Alfred suddenly looked like a child, head down, hands together, digging his foot along the cracked concrete of the floor.

"There was someone with him, in the car. Before Gil passed out told the paramedics that the guy was looking for you. Blond hair, blue eyes, weird cowlick on the side of-"

Mathias didn't realize he had moved until he had Alfred's jacket in a death grip.

"Which hospital?"

Alfred squeaked and struggled to get of of his partner's grasp.

"Alfred! Tell me!"

It wasn't until he heard the seams of the jacket pop, that he realized he was holding the 170 pound man off the ground.

He instantly dropped him and looked at him with pleading eyes, looking like a deflated balloon.

Alfred regained his balance and put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"I'll take you to him, Ludwig said It'd be okay to take a break from patrol. Just go put on a jacket, it's snowing pretty bad out here."

Mathias nodded, trying to calm down his hammering heart for the second time that morning.  
Alfred followed him into the cramped apartment.

Pausing for a moment, Mathias glanced back and whispered, "he's gonna be okay, right?"

Alfred could hear the fearful waver in his partner's voice.

"I don't know how bad he is, I was just told to come get you. But I know he's at least still alive."

Mathias' shoulders dropped even further out of their tense position at that.

"Okay, let's just get going."

"I can't believe you really live here," he whispered in wonder, eyes running over the sparsely decorated room that was painfully obvious it was being used as a bedroom despite it having only a single couch.

"Yeah, it's not much, but it keeps me warm at night."

Almost comedically, the heater chose that moment to shut off.

"Let's just go," Mathias huffed pulling on his only jacket.

"Alright."

He suddenly paused catching a glimpse of Mathias' eyes.

"Hold on Mat."

"What?" he huffed impatiently.

Without warning, Alfred pulled him into a tight hug.

Surprised and a bit overwhelmed, Mathias allowed the tears he had shut off to fall freely. They stayed like that for several moments, Alfred simply allowing Mathias to let out the emotional tension he had been put under.

"It's gonna be okay, Mathias. Your soulmate's gonna be fine and he's gonna be so happy when he wakes up he's gonna cry harder than you are right now you big cry baby," Alfred laughed pulling back.

Mathias cautiously returned the laugh as if he were going to break from the force of it.

"I can't believe you would call me that. You are such a child."

Alfred shrugged. "It's my way of coping with an unexpected emotional time."

As they made their way to the car, Alfred playfully bumped into Mathias.

"You know you don't have to be alone in this."

Mathias managed a small smile but Alfred wasn't done.

"I have no clue what would I have done without you when Kiku got sick. I probably acted like a seven year old I was so scared and sad."

"More like a five year old," Mathias retorted pushing Alfred back.

The pair laughed as they ducked to get into the car.

"But really dude," Alfred said as he fumbled for his keys. "It's gonna be okay, I promise."

Mathias barely made a noise of acknowledgment before settling into the seat.

He stared at the snow gathering on the windshield.

"I just hope everyone else is safe."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate writing 1k chapters but I can't think of anything else to put in here.


	9. Some Wounds Bandages can't Fix

Mathias gently waved off Alfred's offer to stay with him once they reached the hospital.

"I'll be fine. Ludwig is gonna kill you if you spend too long off patrol," Mathias retorted.

"I think Ludwig had other things to worry about."

Mathias flushed pink from the shame of forgetting that Ludwig was Gilbert's younger brother.

"Oh, right."

"So, do you want me to stay?"

"Nah, I'm fine on my own."

Alfred sighed and tightened his grip on the wheel. "Okay, but call me if you need something, I've got my cell on."

"Got it, now go get another McMuffin or something, you look hungry."

He ignored the profane gesture directed at him and exited the police car.

"Call me if you need a ride home!" Alfred shouted before Mathias slammed the door shut.

He made a mock salute before strutting through the sliding doors and down the hall into the waiting room.

The second the doors slid shut, his entire stance dropped like a marionette who had his strings cut.

He felt drained and exhausted. A stark contrast to his emotions when he first heard about the accident.

He had managed to keep up the act all though the ride, pretending to be alert and cracking bad jokes and even at the restaurant where Alfred had insisted on eating to bide their time until visiting hours began.

Neither of them ate much but it was a nice place to stay warm.

He made his way up to the desk where a nurse was busy scribbling on an undecipherable work form.

"Um, hi?"

"Fill out the form and have a seat," the platinum blond said without looking up.

"I'm actually here to see a patient."

She looked up, her eyes twinkling in surprise.

"Oh dear, sorry about that," she said dropping her pen and checking her watch.

"You're lucky visiting hours start so early around here, otherwise I'd be a lot longer wait."

Mathias looked over her again, not being able to shake the feeling that he knew her. 

"Irunya?"

She jumped at her name and peered through her reading glasses at Mathias.

"Oh, Officer Kohler. I didn't recognize you with my glasses on. Or while I'm not yelling at my sister." 

She made a gentle smile at her own joke. 

Mathias shuffled his feet awkwardly.

"Yeah, you look look really different when you smile."

"I'm assuming you're here to see Mr. Beilschmidt?"

Mathias fidgeted and looked down at his hands.

"Uh, yeah. But first I'm here to see Lukas Bondevik."

She blinked in confusion.

"Oh alright, let me check."

She turned and messed with the computer for a second.

"I don't see a Mr. Bondevik on here."

Mathias' blood turned cold and his fists clenched at his sides.

"Are you sure you spelled it right?"

"L-U-K-A-S B-O-N-D-E-V-I-K?"

"Yes."

"Then he's not here. There's no records of anyone with that name here."

"But..."

Mathias' mind was racing.

_Why would Alfred lie to him?_

_If Gil was here why wasn't he?_

_What if he was already on his way to the morgue?_

Mathias felt like he was going to throw up as the absurd questions swirled around in his mind.

He put his head in his hands and leaned on the desk.

"Officer?"

The Ukrainian leaned over and touched his shoulder.

"I can check the other hospitals in the area. Please don't cry."

Mathias hadn't even realized he was crying. 

After a moment he shook his head clear of rampant thoughts and stood up again.

"Okay," he croaked fighting back angry and tired tears.

She began tapping at her computer again.

"If you could give me more information that would help a lot."

"Like what?"

She stopped and tapped her lips with her finger.

"Well, time he came in, what type of accident, that type of stuff."

"Car accident, and before four I guess."

She returned to typing then paused turning back to him.

"He would have happened to come in with Officer Beilschmidt? Would he?"

"Yeah, they were in the same car."

She gave him a short laugh and a reassuring smile.

"I should have known. He is here. He just wasn't identified. The driver's license he had was not his and the phone he was carrying was damaged to the point where they couldn't track it."

Mathis swallowed thickly.

'Identify' was mostly a term used to describe a suspect or a body in his line of work.

"Oh, uh, his name is Lukas Bondevik and he lives about an hour's drive up north. I actually can't tell you much about him. We haven't really gotten a chance to talk much."

She peered at him again through her glasses.

"He's your soulmate?"

Mathias blushed.

"Yes."

Irunya smiled.

"I should have known that too. I see so many couples in here, one freaking out over the other's health.   
Now don't you worry. Lukas isn't in as bad of shape as you think. I don't recall his total injuries, but I know he's gonna pull through for sure."

Mathias managed a soft smile.

"Thank you Irunya."

"You're welcome dear. Just let me pull the information and contact his doctor to see if he's up for a visit right now. It'll be a minute, go ahead and sit down."

Mathias nodded and followed her directions to a chair close to the desk.

"Oh and Mathias?"

"Yes?"

"Just..."

Her statement was punctuated with a grimace.

"Do try and look away from any clear reflections like the windows or anything like that. His injuries are going to be visible and I don't want you more worried than you have to be."

Mathias nodded and began thinking of anything to distract himself.

After a few minutes, Irunya spoke up. "Alrighty then, room 204 up the elevator and to your left."

Mathias voiced his thanks and made a move towards the direction she was pointing.

"Oh and one more thing."

Mathias paused.

"It's gonna be fine. Don't worry so much."

Mathias gave her a curt nod and immediately grimaced the second her back was turned.

It had to be fine.

Right?

* * *

 

His shoe squeaked as he turned the indicated corner.

Dread that had not left his stomach since Alfred's visit was beginning to pool in his chest, constricting his breathing.

He finally reached the indicated door and stared at it for a few long moments preparing for what was inside.

With a nervous motion, he reached out and rapped his knuckles on the door twice.

"Come in."

The voice was to high too be Lukas', but too heavily accented to be Emil's.

_Of course Emil wasn't there yet as they didn't have Lukas' name so why would his brother be here._

Shaking off the random thought, Mathias pushed open the door and shyly stepped in.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

The doctor stood up from his seated position and offered his hand.

"I'm Dr. Hond-."

The pair paused in surprise and Mathias let out a forced chuckle.

"I think I know who you are Kiku."

Dr. Honda shrugged and offered a cool, "Small town, I guess." 

Kiku glanced back towards the bed.

"I really should have recognized Mr. Bondevik then. Maybe I had a little too much to drink the other night."

"Nah, it was just dark and you saw us for like, five seconds before the cab got there."

The two stewed in silence before Dr. Honda gestured behind him.

"I'm certain you have some questions for me about Lukas' condition."

"Yeah, but can I see him first?"

The doctor grimaced but nodded, dark eyes expressing a deep feeling Mathias couldn't place.

As Mathias approached the bed, his stomach clenched at the sight of Lukas.

All of his hair was shaven off. The light blond curls that framed Lukas' face so beautifully were most likely bloodstained and in a trash bin somewhere, seeing as their was a large bandage that reached far across the left side of his head.

Another gauze bandage covered most of his cheek and partially hid the irritated and swollen skin.  

Mathias turned away, quickly squeezing his eyes shut, not daring to venture further downward in fear that the sight of Lukas' mangled body would prove too much for him.

Gently, a hand caressed his shoulder.

"It is not as bad as it seems, I promise."

Mathias looked back to the dark haired man who was watching him with a warm expression.

"At the risk of sounding cliché, how is he doc?"

Dr. Honda's smile dipped a bit, the light in them fading a bit.

"Mild bruising almost all over, his left leg is broken in two places, his left shoulder is fractured and three of his fingers on his right hand are broken. There's a large gash on his cheek as you can see and the other bandage is covering a fracture in his skull."

With every word Mathias' heart dropped further.

"I-I..."

He couldn't form a coherent sentence.

Kiku squeezed his shoulder again, this time wrapping his other arm around him to give his friend further comfort.

"His wounds will heal in time. What he needs right now is rest and some company, that which you seem like you are willing to supply."

Mathias glanced up to meet Dr. Honda's eyes.

"Is it okay if I stay today, at least until he wakes up?"

The Japanese man gently sighed and nodded.

He turned to leave but paused in the doorway.

"Just don't be disappointed if he doesn't wake up today, he's been through a lot of physical trauma."

Mathias nodded and croaked out a quiet, "Thanks doc."

"You are very welcome Mr. Køhler."

And with that, he left.

Mathias looked back to Lukas and forced a smile he couldn't see. 

With a gentle motion he leaned down and planted a soft kiss on his lover's forehead, lips brushing the gauze patch.

"Take your time. I'll be here when you wake up."


	10. Chapter 10

He could hear them.

At first Lukas just lay there, not really sure if he was awake or asleep, eyelids too heavy to lift. It was almost peaceful.  As if the rhythmic beeping and hushed melodic voices that came and went wanted to lull him back to his slumber.

His first indication of consciousness was when a pair of nurses came in.

"So this is our mystery patient." A heavily accented voice cooed. "I wonder what kind of guy he had to be to be riding in the front of a police car in the middle of the night? Especially in this neighborhood."

"A hooker?"

Lukas could hear a loud squeak as the other nurse stopped  abruptly and dragged his shoe on the floor.

"Lovino!"

"What? It's a legitimate idea. What other type of guy do you see wearing a cashmere turtleneck to cover up hickies?"

"That's still not nice to say. Anyhow, the _bruises_ are more likely from the crash."

"We'll do you have any idea who he could be, _Antonio_?"

The name was sneered. Making the nurse's voice sound rough and grouchy.

"I don't know but you should never assume. Remember the big Russian guy who came in and looked like he'd gotten in a bar fight?"

"Yeah?"

"He's a social care worker. He beat up and got beaten up by some kids abusive dad when the guy  found out he was abusing his son."

"Oh."

Suddenly cold hands were grabbing his arm.

He subconsciously flinched away making his heart monitor jump and made both nurses pause. 

"Did he just flinch?"

No response besides the tightening of fingers on his arm.

"Lovino?"

The pressure lessened and a low sigh came from beside him.

"It was most likely a subconscious reaction. His heartbeat is too slow for him to be awake. 

Anyway, let's get him cleaned up. We're supposed to get off early aren't we?"

"Si, I'm really excited to try the new Italian restaurant for lunch."

A low chuckle sounded from Lukas' left.

"Yeah I know. If we wake up in time for Lunch, what time is it anyway?"

"Almost four."

"Ugh, I hate taking the early shifts."

"I know, I know. I promise I'll talk to boss about coming in later now and again."

He could feel an odd sensation as careful hands peeled off a bandage on his forehead. A warm wet sponge went to work cleaning off left over dried blood.

Completely grossed out by the feeling, Lukas attempted to space out and remember what happened. 

There was a lot of noise, someone was yelling for him and then nothing.

After playing the blurred scenario several times, he felt the same gentle hands replacing the old bandage with a new one.

His body felt cool where the nurses ran water over him to clean him off.

When he felt one of the sponges run across his scalp, Lukas suddenly felt drained.

His hair was gone. The only thing he ever felt was beautiful about himself was just, gone.

What would Mathias think?

His chest hurt at the mental image of Mathias frowning then forcing a smile and then a lie about how Lukas didn't look bad.

The painful thought ran through his head and surprised himself. 

Why was his first thought of Mathias? 

He has a brother for crying out loud.

The term _soulmate syndrome_  crossed his mind and he made a mental note to read up on it.

As random ideas buzzed through his head, more memories hit him.

The sudden jerk of the car. The painful dizziness when his head hit the door. The crunch of bones as he tried to stop himself from crashing further into the door frame with his fist.

His stomach twisted as he suddenly felt the bandages on his fingers and head.

He felt like crying and for once his body complied and allowed tears to freely stream down his battered face.

As more pain and sorrow rocked him, he had another thought.

"They said mystery patient, they don't know who I am. No one will be able to find me."

His chest ached with the thought that he might never get to truly know Mathias without something or someone getting in the way.

_What if I'm in a coma?_

"No the nurses would have mentioned a coma," he chided himself silently.

Swallowing as heavily as he could, he forced his brain to calm down.

As he relaxed further mentally, his body began to follow.

"I just need a nap. Yeah that's it, a nap. One quick nap and I'll get up and go find Mathias and Emil. That sounds good."

As he thought this to himself he could feel his exhaustion take over.

"Yeah that sounds good."

And he quietly drifted back to sleep.

* * *

It wasn't until much later that Lukas woke up fully.

His eyes fluttered open causing pain as the light from the window burned the tender organs.

He made a hoarse groan and tried to sit up.

"Lukas, stay down. You don't want to hurt yourself further."

Rolling his head to the side, his vision was filled with the gently smiling face of Emil.

"What..." he croaked, voice barely reaching audible levels.

Emil forced a smile.

"It's gonna be okay. I called in the Doctor."

"What happened?"

Emil's false smile dropped.  
"You were in a car crash with Officer Beilschmidt. You guys hit a patch of ice and skidded of the road."

Lukas inhaled deeply as lukewarm memories buzzed in his head.

"Is Gil okay?"

"Gil?"

"Officer Beilschmidt."

"Oh, yeah. He's fine. A few cracked ribs, but fine. He got off lucky."

"What about Mathias?"

Emil's eyes widened.

"He was in the car too?"

Lukas frowned.

"What? No. I just mean where is he?"

Emil smirked at his brother's flustered reaction.

"He just went to go get coffee for us. I told him he was going to miss the big wake up scene, but noooooo. He had to be the good guy."

Lukas rolled his eyes.

"How long have I been out?"

"Oh, about two, three months."

Lukas jumped but saw his brother's smirk.

"Not funny," he huffed.

"It was to me."

Lukas peered angrily, trying to pin Emil down with a glare.

"You aren't usually one for jokes. What's wrong with you? Are you sick?"

Emil smiled slightly at his brother's discomfort.

"I may have been hanging out with my brother in law too much. He's starting to rub off on me."

Lukas opened his mouth to respond but the doorknob began turning before he could.

The Norwegian perked up and waited, hoping it was Mathias returning.

"Good morning you two."

He dropped back further into the bed. It was just the doctor.

"I glad you see you up and moving, Lukas. I am going to need to check you over, so you you mind?"

He directed the end of the statement. Towards Emil.

"Oh yeah, sure," he said moving towards the door.

Before he made it out he turned back and said, "I'll keep Mathias occupied so you can do a checkup in peace this time."

"Thank you very much. And if you don't mind, I'm pretty sure my little brother would like an update."

Emil nodded and reached out a hand to revive the Doctor's phone which was gracefully given.

After the door shut, Dr. Honda turned back to Lukas only to see a confused expression. 

"I'm Leon's older brother. Kiku." he prompted suddenly worried about the state of Lukas' memory.

Lukas shook his head lightly.

"Right. It's just weird seeing you in a different setting."

"Yes I know. But you you want to know something really strange?"

"Sure?"

"You know your soulmate's patrol partner, Alfred?"

"I think Mathias mentioned him."

"I'm _his_ soulmate!"

Lukas jumped a bit at the rare smile coming from his brother in law.

"That's a weird coincidence."

"Yeah, it's a small world after all."

The pair let out soft laughter.

As Kiku moved to start examining Lukas' head, the dark haired man murmured quietly, "I hate that song."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soulmate Syndrome refers to the mental state after a person meets their soulmate for the first time. It's relatively common and can last anywhere between days and weeks depending on a number of factors.  
> Symptoms include anywhere from a blush that doesn't seem to want to go away, to dropping everything just to be with the soulmate.


	11. What Is It Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Believe it or not, more complications arise.

"Hey, Lukas?"

The Norwegian sleepily looked up from the book he was attempting (and failing) to read.

It was one of the nurses from earlier, the one with an Italian accent.

"Uh, yes?" he asked slightly taken aback at the highly unprofessional statement.

"That Mathias guy is your husband, right?" he asked gesturing behind him with his thumb.

Lukas pursed his lips.

"We aren't married yet, we've known each other for week and I've been unconscious for most of it."

He punctuated the statement with his best, 'I'm still a chairman of one of the biggest electronics producers in the country' looks.

Immediately he saw the nurse take a minor step back.

Sensing he had gone overboard, he relaxed his pose and settled into his bed.

"But yes he is my soulmate."

The Italian peered at his patent trying to get a read off of him.

"Then I hope you either have the patience of a god or develop one like I did."

Lukas rolled his eyes. 

"I don't believe you are really supposed to be patronizing me like this. It's none of your concern who my soulmate is and what he's like. I think he's a great guy so far."

The Italian smirked causing Lukas to further his glare.

"You are saying that to the guy who had to set his broken nose."

Lukas sat up quickly making his heart monitor jump, only to be gently pushed down again by the nurse.

"Don't worry, your happy little golden retriever is fine."

Lukas' half asleep mind was already on the alert, staying grumpy for a few moments before dissipating the emotion.

"What happened?"

The nurse shrugged.

"He lost a one on two fight with a sheet of ice and the pavement."

Lukas marked him with an icy glare that even the smooth talking Italian backed off at.

"I said he's fine. He apparently got over excited when he heard you were awake and slipped in some ice when he was running back here. Just a broken nose and some bruises.

Lukas cradled in head in his free hand and let out a frustrated sigh. What had he done to deserve this?  
Over twenty years of waiting for his soulmate and the universe just has to prolong that wait a little bit longer.

Watching his patient's reaction carefully, Romano finally threw his hands in the air and gave an ultimatum.

"All right pouty baby, I'll run you over for a quick visit, ten minutes max. But if you tell anyone, _anyone,_ about this, I will make the rest of your stay a living hell. Got it?"

Lukas looked up, surprised at the sudden act of cold generosity. He took a long shuddering breath in an attempt to slow his heart.

"Alright then."

Romano smirked.

"Okay then, wait here while I got grab a wheelchair. If anyone comes in, you tell them nothing."

Lukas allowed a small smile dance across his face.

"Heard you the first time."

This time the Italian's features twisted into a scowl.

"Smartass."

Without another word, he disappeared out the door.

* * *

 

Mathias pinched his arm for what felt like the hundredth time.

He had been sitting there for only about ten minutes after the doctor and nurse had left and was barely keeping his eyes open.

It was kind of funny seeing Dr. Honda's face when he walked in the door holding a generously given wad of tissue to his dripping nose.

It wasn't so funny having his nose set back in place. He could have sworn that nurse had it out for him.

It looked like a plum covered in gauze from where he could see it by crossing his eyes slightly.

He let a slow sigh run from his lips.

His head felt like it was detached. His mind floating far above the atmosphere. It was like something out of a sci-fi movie.

Whatever pain killers they had him on were apparently extra strength and were giving him one hell of a trip as they kicked in.

He had almost nodded off  when there was a firm knock at the door.

"Mr. Køhler?"

"Yes?" He asked back sounding like he had stuffed a tissue up his nose.

The nurse spoke while pushing the door open with one hand and guiding a wheelchair with the other. 

"You've been here ten minutes and you already have a visitor. That has got to be a record."

Mathias gave a dazed look at the wheelchair occupant before cracking a smile.

"Damn, what a way to go."

Lukas was taken aback. Shifting in his seat, he quickly glanced back at the nurse but the Italian only had a similar expression on his face.

He quickly gestured for Romano to move him closer to the bed.

With a gentle motion, he reached out his hand that wasn't firmly secured to his chest and placed it over Mathias resting hand.

"What are you talking about Mathias?"

The Dane gave off a goofy grin.

"Well I'm obviously going to heaven and about to be taken there by an Angel. Take me away, oh gorgeous one."

Lukas rolled his eyes and attempted to hide his blush. The nurse only snickered at the two and broke into an almost menacing smile.

"You've got ten minutes lovebirds, then this babysitter has to take Mr. Angel back to his room."

The pair nodded. Mathias' nod being more like a head drop.

With a swift movement, and a rather loud slam of the door, he left.

Lukas turned back to his bruised lover.

"Mathias you're not dead, you're in the hospital."

Mathias opened his eyes wide as he took in this information. Then laughed.

"I'm glad for that. Who wants 'slipped on ice' on his gravestone."

He ended the sentence with a soft trickle of giggles partially muffled by his hand.

Lukas fought the smile that almost took ahold of his lips.

"Is this what it was like for you when I was drunk?"

"Nope," the sleepy Dane responded, "Double the giggles and add practically carrying you around, plus a dash of poking my face every once in awhile telling my how cute my dimples are."

Lukas finally let go of his vain fight against his smile.

"You're dimples _are_ cute you know."

There was a punctuated moment of silence before Mathias smiled wider and leaned closer to Lukas and whispered, "hey."

Lukas raised his eyebrow prompting him to continue.

"Do this mean we can stop playing soulmate tag and get our first kiss?"

Lukas raised the other eyebrow.

"What exactly make you think I want to kiss you? When was the last time you brushed your teeth?"

Mathias immediately dropped the smile and channeled his inner puppy dog pout.

Lukas fought the look for a few moments but sighed and gently shook his head.

"Alight, but I'm bringing you mouthwash later."

Mathias immediately perked back up and with a sassy pout and said, "You are cruel yet kind."

Lukas reached over and trailed his fingers under his lover's chin bringing his face closer.

"Not exactly how you expected our first kiss, huh?" He whispered pulling himself in.

Instead of an answer Mathias simply pushed their waiting lips together.

Their lips were dry. Mathias' nose bandage was rubbing against Lukas' cheek one. The taste of the Italian food Mathias had for lunch still lingered on his tongue.

It was amazing.

When the pair pulled back Lukas looked down in embarrassment.

Immediately Mathias reached over to touch his cheek and lift his head.

"What's wrong?"

Lukas averted his eyes again.

Lukas couldn't describe the feeling when he just stopped and registered his surroundings. Like how he was pulling himself out of a wheelchair to get closer and Mathias was fighting off his medication to stay awake and even why they ended up here in the first place.

Mathias softened his concerned look and ran his fingertips over Lukas scalp curving the motion to end below his chin.

"Don't worry," he murmured in an attempt to comfort his lover. "It's not supposed to be like the movies.  We aren't supposed to immediately fall into each other's arms already in love. It's a strange, new thing. We don't know enough about each other to really fall in love yet and that's okay."

Lukas looked up with misty eyes and whispered, "So you'll stick around for a while?"

Mathias smiled and laughed.

"As long as you'll have me Lukas. As long as you'll have me."


	12. Snow Fall and Fairy Lights

"Lukas? Sweetheart? Wake up."

The blond rolled his head and looked up at the person who disturbed his slumber.

"Why'd you wake me? I was having the best dream. We got married, Alfred made the funniest best man speech and then we..." He whispered voice trailing off as he glanced around the small car.

Mathias chuckled and ran his hand along Lukas' chin. "Sorry to wake you. Sounds like it was a pretty damn good dream."

Lukas rubbed his eyes and looked up, letting a faint smile flicker across his features.

"Of course it was. Because it was real and it was so amazing."

A light blush dusted across Mathias's face.

"It wasn't that amazing. Not nearly as good as it could have been if I could have-"

He was silenced by Lukas solidly poking him in the chest.

"If you keep mourning the fact that we didn't spend a ridiculous amount of money on our wedding, I'm going to put up the roof and strap you on for the rest of the way. It was amazing and better than anything I could ask for because _you_ made it that way.

Mathias slight blush was now turning his face bright red.

"W-well," Mathias struggled for a comeback. "I already put the roof up."

"You put the roof up? Why?"

"When the sun set, it got really cold, I didn't want to wake you." 

Lukas heaved a slow sigh and smiled warmly.

"Thank you. Where are we anyway?"

Mathias grinned and reached his hand over to caress Lukas' face. He leaned in close and pressed his lips to his lover's forehead and whispered, "Home."

The Norwegian gasped quietly and turned to the windows to look out.

They were fogged over.

Lukas turned back and raised an eyebrow.

Mathias shrugged.

"I couldn't decide how to wake you up. We may or may not have been sitting here for awhile." 

Lukas rolled his eyes and reached forward to wipe the fogged glass.

"Wait," Mathias chirped grabbing Lukas's hand, "I want you to see the whole thing at once."

Lukas squinted suspiciously but nodded.

"Keep you eyes closed. Okay?"

Lukas made a noise of agreement and shut his eyes.

He was immediately startled by a gust of cold air as the drivers side door opened and Mathias jumped out.

Once his own door was opened and he stepped out, hands covered his already closed eyes.

"Mathias," Lukas whined.

"Trust me it'll be perfect."

The pair stumbled awkwardly into perfect viewing position and Mathias steadied Lukas before moving in front of him.

"Ready?" He asked backing up enough so Lukas could get the full view.

"Yes, just uncover my eyes already."

"Okay, and...open."

Lukas' eyes opened to reveal the most beautiful house he had ever seen.

Snow was drifting lazily down from a pitch black sky, sticking to the second story roof and decorations in a white powder. A balcony stretched off the side, hanging below a large elegant window. White fairy lights were strung along the balcony. Pale blue lights flanking the large wooden door lit the entire scene in a wintery hue.

Mathias moved back in front and gestured to the house. 

"So what do you think? I know it isn't nearly as big as your old house but it's still pretty swee-"

He was cut off as Lukas slammed into his with full force, knocking them both into the snow.

"Woah what-" 

He was again cut off, this time by Lukas pressing a long kiss over his lips. Frozen and chapped, it still felt amazing.

"It beautiful, thank you," he breathed in between kisses that he dotted all over.

Mathias chuckled and sat up.

"It wasn't just me. Emil hired all the guys, and got all the paperwork done. I just gave him a basic design idea."

Lukas pulled the Dane back into a crushing hug.

"It's still perfect."

Mathias chuckled and pulled back.

"Great because I now have snow in my pants and I'd like to get inside."

Lukas clucked and backed up so they could stand.

Mathias took his hand and led him towards the house.

As the my got closer, Lukas could see the fine details. 

Ornate metal vines crawled up the oak doors making the fairly new house look ancient. A dark and gorgeous walkway led up to it. More blue light came from two iron hanging lamps that seemed to belong to a fairy tale.

The pair made their way to the door and Lukas held his breath as Mathias pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked it.

They took a step forward as the door swung open but was stopped by Mathias.

Before Lukas could protest, Mathias stuck out his arms like he was carrying a box.

Lukas groaned.

"I thought you said we weren't doing that."

"Please? It's a tradition," Mathias whispered giving his lover a sweet look similar to one a puppy might give.

Lukas crossed his arms and huffed a small, "fine".

With a swift movement Mathias scooped him up into a bridal carry and marched triumphantly forward into the front room, swinging to door shut behind him with his foot.

"Happy? Lukas asked looking up to meet Mathias beaming gaze.

"The happiest."

He gently set down his husband and took a full look around letting out a low whistle.

"Wow, I hadn't really looked closely at the inside when I was in here earlier."

Lukas whipped his head around.

"You were in here?"

"Yeah, who do you think turned on the lights?"

"Doesn't that like, void the whole carrying your spouse over the threshold thing?" Lukas said crossing his arms.

"I don't know, I never actually looked it up."

Lukas shook his head.

"Mathias, I love you but you are such a dork sometimes."

Mathias pulled him into an unexpected hug.

"You said you love me."

"You're a dork," Lukas half laughed half purred before kissing his husband thoroughly.

* * *

 

They spent nearly an hour exploring the new house.

Mathias was overjoyed to find a raised patio and hot tub out in the back yard. Lukas was just happy to find that the decor wasn't white and chrome like his old home.

 _House_ , he reminded himself. It was never really a home. Was it?

Finally dragging Mathias out of the walk in closet, they made their way to the next room over.

The pair were surprised to find it mint green and empty besides a waist high dark wooden table and a note.

Lukas picked it up first and after noting it was Emil's handwriting, he began reading aloud to Mathias who stood behind him. 

"I know it's weird that this room is bare. We weren't planning on adding a room here but Liam noticed the plans had a large gap here and decided to make it an extra room. I don't know if you guys were planning on it, but maybe if you two were thinking..."

There was a crude drawing of a rattle and a baby bottle at the bottom.

The air in the room suddenly tingled with tense energy. Mathias' eyes widened and looked like he was about to explode with happiness and Lukas was staring at the paper with the same wide eyes and a painfully held breath.

"Lukas..." Mathias whispered.

"No."

The Dane's face dropped.

"What?"

Without an answer, Lukas dropped the paper and marched out of the room.

"Hey wait. Lukas!" Mathias called, scrambling to catch up and nearly running into the door.

"I said no!"

Mathias managed to catch his hand and spin him around.

"No to what? You don't want kids?"

Lukas refused to look him in the eye and slowly shook his head.

"So that's not what you're saying or..."

"It's just-it's just too early to be talking about this. We just got home from our honeymoon. Kids is a conversation for after we get settled."

"So why-"

"And mean it's so complicated. Especially for two guys."

"Lukas-"

"How many kids do we want to have? Do we do adoption? Do we do surrogate mother? And even then who's going to be the biological father? What if-"

"Lukas!"

The Norwegian startled.

Mathias trailed his hand up Lukas' chin and forced his gaze upward.

"Why did you react so violently to the idea? It seemed like there was a little more to it then a lot of questions."

Shining tears appeared at the corners of Lukas' eyes.

Mathias tried to backtrack.

"Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. If you don't want kids right now it's fi-"

Lukas suddenly shoved his face into Mathias chest, rubbing his tears on his sweater.

"I don't want mess up my kids," he murmured into the dark clothing.

Mathias startled then looked downward wrapping his arms around his husband.

"What are you talking about? You'd make a great dad. Didn't you say you raised Emil pretty much by yourself? He isn't messed up."

Lukas shook his head.

"That's just it, I had to raise my little brother mostly be myself. My parents were horrible. I don't want what happened to me to  happen to my own kids."

"No," Mathias whispered laying his head on Lukas', appreciating the soft curls that were now growing there.

"I know you'd be an awesome dad. We'd both be. Remember what Emil told us? That we balance each other out? It'd be the same thing. You'd tell them to not eat candy and I'd sneak them some skittles now and again. If I was ever concerned, we'd talk about it and find a solution. It's not going to be the same situation."

An apology was immediately on his tongue as Lukas' shaking became harsher.

But before Mathias could stutter out his apology, Lukas looked up. 

And he was laughing.

Mathias sighed in relief and pulled him in tighter.

"You would sneak them candy wouldn't you?" Lukas murmured.

"Well, that depends on how strict you are about candy."

"Honestly I have a sweet tooth from hell and you'd have to hide the candy from me."

Mathias pulled back.

"See? Would a bad parent say that?"

Lukas scrunched up his face.

"Are you implying that good parents  eat their children's Halloween candy?"  
Mathias shuffled his feet.

"Maybe."

The Norwegian let out a rush of air resembling a laugh.

"I don't think I'll ever understand you."

Mathias smirked.

"That's the beauty of marriage. We have the rest of our lives to figure it out."

Lukas sighed again, allowing Mathias to nuzzle his face into his shoulder.

"We can be done with the whole kids conversation if you want. I don't want to push you to do anything you don't want."

Softly, Lukas nodded and took Mathias' hands in his.

"Something tells me you might want to check out the hot tub."

Mathias' eyes lit up and he jumped back ready to spring for the door.

Lukas tried to stop him.

"Wait! Swimsuits?"

Mathias portrayed a deer in the headlights look before it morphed into a mischievous smile.

He turned and before Lukas could protest, he bolted towards the back door, striping clothes as he went.

Lukas made it to the door just in time to see Mathias step, butt naked, into the running hot tub that was currently illuminated by beautiful green and blue lights.

"Why is it even on?" Lukas called wincing at the cold snow settling on his head.  
Mathias smiled sinking down further.

"I was hoping you'd want to get in so I turned it on when I came in here the first time."  
Lukas raised an eyebrow.

"You realize you didn't grab a towel, right? Your dick is going to freeze off when you get out."

Mathias went pale in the face at the thought.

Lukas rolled his eyes and returned to the house to the house for towels.

After locating them and walking back outside, he dropped them close enough to reach while still in the tub then stripped and stepped in himself.

The temperature change was amazing. 

His eyes almost immediately drooped and he let out a low yawn.

"Still tired?"

"Yeah, I didn't sleep very well on the plane."

Mathias scooted closer and put his arm around Lukas' shoulder.

"Go ahead and sleep for a bit, I'll make sure you won't drown."

"That be one hell of a way to go though," Lukas murmured leaning on his husband's shoulder.

"Yeah but I'd miss you," Mathias whispered back brushing a stray hair away from his face.

"Mathias?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

Mathias startled slightly and looked down at the half smiling Norwegian. He sighed gently and smiled back.

"I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright boys, girls, and anyone else. Everything is winding down and the epilogue is on it's way. Hope you'll be there.


	13. Epilogue Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new family

"Lukas."

The Norwegian looked up from the 4 year old he was watching as she colored.

"Hmmm?"

"The little boy over there is singing 'Bæ Bæ Lille Lam' to himself."

"The little blond playing with Lego?"

"Yeah."

"I wonder," Lukas purred trailing off.

"I'll watch Katrine," Mathias said gesturing to the 4 year old and waving his husband off.

"She likes you better anyway," Lukas murmured.

He took a few steps towards the child.

The young one immediately stopped singing and looked up from his handful of Lego with wide crystal blue eyes.

"Hello. What's your name?"

The blond slunk downward in his chair a little.

"Oh uh, Aron."

"What song are you singing?"

Aron looked suddenly seemed much more interested  in the Lego he was holding.

"Aron?"

"My English is...sad."

" _Do you speak Norwegian?"_

His head shot up and his eyes widened before nodding frantically.

_"How did you know?"_

_"I heard you singing  'Bæ Bæ Lille Lam'. That was one of my favorite songs as a kid."_

_"My mom used to sing it to me,"_ he murmured before looking away.

" _So your English is sad?"_

Aron laughed at his own mistake.

" _I mean bad."_

 _"You mean_ bad."

" _Oh_."

" _Easy mistake_. _So how old are you?"_

_"Eight."_

_"Did you come here from Norway?"_

Aron paused and looked away.

_"Yes, my momma brought me with her. She got sick though."_

Lukas softened expression and knelt down.

" _Do you see the man over there? The one with tall spiky hair who is playing with Katrine?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"That's Mathias, my husband. He likes Lego too. Would you like to meet him?"_

Aron's eyes widened again.

_"Really?"_

_"Yes."_

Aron brightened at the prospect of meeting the other adult then suddenly dropped his head looking sorry.

" _No one ever wants to talk to me because they can't understand me."_

Lukas reached over and put his hand on Aron's shoulder.

" _It's okay. I understand you just fine. Mathias is Danish so he isn't as good at speaking in Norwegian as I am but I think I can translate."_

Aron perked back up and chirped, _"Katrine is Danish too."_

The next hour was a blur. Between Mathias and Katrine building a Lego tower with the other kids and Lukas reading some of the children's books to Aron in Norwegian.

They were all surprised to hear Tino warn them about closing visiting hours.

"Sorry guys. The little ones need to eat dinner then get washed up for bed."

Lukas sighed heavily then leaned down to Aron and Katrine

" _See you two tomorrow?"_ He asked in Norwegian then repeated in Danish.

They both frantically nodded.

Mathias ruffled their hair then patted their backs as they ran off with the other kids.

"So, thinking about adopting?" Tino asked raising an eyebrow.

Lukas clenched his hands tensing slightly at the thought.

Mathias looked like he was ready to burst with joy.

They shared a long look before Lukas sighed.

"Okay, but which one?"

Mathias drooped.

"Which one?"

"Yes Mathias, which one. You promised we would just look today and you're all ready to sign the paperwork without even considering any of the repercussions."

"But you saw how well they interacted. They'd be perfect. And we wouldn't have to worry about running through the adoption process twice."

"Mathias-"

Tino cleared his throat.

The couple glanced at him, Lukas putting a bit more venom in his gaze than he meant to.

"With our system. Paired siblings aren't allowed to be adopted separately. It would promote mental problems and can be an extreme hassle to try and get together after being adopted. Especially if a file gets lost or things get mixed up."

Lukas furrowed his brow.

"Katrine and Aron aren't siblings. Are they?"

"Not biologically, but like I said, there are always problems with document transfers and when they were moved here together. They were categorized as siblings and we just never fixed it. They bonded over being the only two non-English speaking kids without translators."

"Oh," Lukas murmured looking up at Mathias with a sheepish expression.

"What do you think?" Tino asked cocking his head to the side, "It's a great system. I adopted my little Peter from here and the whole process was so smooth. He was home with us within a month. I swear buying something off of Ebay is a harder task."

"That's because you work here," Lukas murmured looking away.

"So?" Mathias asked looking like he was going break his teeth he was smiling so hard.

Lukas let out a heavy sigh.

"Let's think about it."

Without warning Mathias pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

"Thank you."

 

Turns out it didn't take too much thinking.

Aron and Katrine were home in the promised month.

" _You ready?"_ Mathias chirped as they reached the door.

"Yeah!" Katrine shouted.

Aron just clutched Lukas' leg tighter.

" _It's okay little one. I know it's a big house and I know there are going to be some intimidating people in there, but I'm going to be right here and so if papa Mathias if you need us,"_ Lukas said stroking Aron's hair.

He took a small shaky breath then nodded.

The newly formed family braced themselves for the onslaught of excitable people ready to meet the new additions.

But there was no one.

Mathias stepped in first, looking around for anyone going to jump out at them.

Still no one.

"Maybe I put the wrong time on the invitation?"

Lukas checked his watch.

"No we are just early. Let's go wait in the dining hall for them."

Leading the wide eyed children through the hall, Mathias silently promised to bring the duo outside later to see the garden and deck.

And maybe show them the hot tub.

"Okay here's the dining roo-"

Lukas stopped, stunned by the fact that the room was already decorated.

The table was lengthened and covered in cloth, there were gifts stacked already against the far wall. It was really odd seeing the room so colorful after months of neglect. (They preferred to eat outside.)

The two adults froze, prepared to be bombarded by friends.

But there was no one.

This was getting tedious.

Lukas pulled out two chairs and gestured for them to sit down.

" _But_ -" Katrine whined.

"English," Lukas warned her.

Their English was getting better but Lukas still had to push them to use it so they could get used to it.

Katrine tried again.

"I want t-to see your hou-house."

Mathias patted her head.

" _In a little while. We wait now. If you want we can do English lessons right now instead of tonight."_  
Katrine looked at her brother before nodding.

They all pulled chairs into a small circle, Mathias having to grab two for Aron and Katrine.

"Okay," Lukas started reminding himself to use minimal vocabulary so that the kids could understand him.

"What is papa's job?"

Aron dropped his head and Katrine looked up to the ceiling as if the word would be painted there.

"Policeman?" Aron said, almost sounding like he was asking.

"Yes. Now what am I?"

This time the siblings shared a look before just making a face at their dad.

"I'm a businessman, I work for a big company making sure everything works the way it should."

"But don't you do that at home?" Kathrine asked sweetly.

No one could hear his answer over Mathias laughing.

 

They idled around like that for what felt like hours. 

It had actually been going on thirty minutes when Alfred wandered through drinking a can of soda.

"Alfred?" Lukas yelped in shock.

The American jumped and looked wide-eyed at the gathering.

"Oh hey guys. When'd you get here?"

Lukas stood up and had to resist crossing his arms.

"About half an hour ago."

"Really? We've all been out there for like, an hour getting ready. Emil tired to call you like ten times."

"Oh-" Mathias said sharing a grimace with Lukas.

He turned back to the kids.

" _Turns out-"_

 _"_ English" Lukas groaned, "Aron can't understand you in Danish anyway."

"Oh, uh everybody is behind the house now. Want to go?"

Katrine immediately bounced out of her chair.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Let's go!" she announced grabbing her brother who was still trying to translate.

They made it to the patio in record time, surprising the guests.

Seeing so many people, Katrine suddenly backed up.

"What's wrong?" Mathias asked coming up behind her.

Instead of answering she just grabbed his ankle length jacket and hid behind him.

"It's okay, take your brother and go say hi."

She just shook her head and buried her face into his coat.

"Hey look," he whispered pointing at Emil and his son who were watching the interaction from beside the hot tub.

"That's your uncle Emil and your cousin, do you want to go say hi

She started the shake her head again but Aron grabbed her hand from behind.

"Come on, we can go say hi together."

Reluctantly she let herself be pulled over to where Emil had knelt down.

Lukas watched the interaction with a satisfied smile.

"Looks like they're going to get along fine," Mathias said coming up behind him.

"Yeah, I just hope Alfred won't scare them."

"Hmm, I think it's actually Gilbert you have to watch out for, Kiku will keep Alfred in check and I think Amelia is already keeping him occupied.

Lukas hummed worriedly.

"It's okay," Mathias whispered pulling Lukas into a hug.

"Everyone will love them, heaven knows I do."

Lukas hummed again, slightly less worried.

* * *

 

It all went well until suddenly Katrine shouted, " _Papa, what does the word_ fuck _mean?"_

Both heads snapped up in horror and boiling anger to see Gilbert red faced shaking his hands like he was swatting away a bee.

Mathias forced a smile.

"I'll let dad explain, right now I'm going to have a little talk with Uncle Gilbert."

Everyone watched the color drain out of Gil's face as he was dragged away by the collar.

Legend says no one ever found his body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> because Matias didn't kill him, he just warned him about swearing in front of his kids.
> 
> Only one more part, I promise.


	14. Epilogue Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the party ft. Lukas' pissed parents.

The next hour went swimmingly.

Cake was eaten, songs were sung and surprisingly, Aron and Katrine kept up with the English pretty well.

Even when it was time for presents Lukas and Mathias were relieved to find that the guests had brought separate gifts for each child and had matched them up pretty well.

What was more strange was Aron and Katrine were more infatuated with each other's gifts then their own.

Nail polish was painted, Lego castles were built, every one had a great time.

Until shit hit the fan.

* * *

 

No one had noticed that for nearly half the party Emil was frantically texting someone, getting more and more nervous as the time went on. 

The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Lukas and Emil shouted at the same time.

Lukas raised a curious eyebrow.

"I ordered pizza."

Emil fought for an excuse.

"I texted Leon's sister to bring me something from the house. It's probably her."

Leon appeared behind him.

"What did you forget?"

"N-nothing important."

"Then why did you-"

"Let's just go together," Lukas interrupted. "That way whoever it is we don't have to run through the house again to go get the other."

"No!" Emil yelped a little too quickly attracting the attention of almost the entire room.

"I-I'll just take the money and if it the pizza guy I'll pay him. We don't both have to walk the whole house."

Lukas marked him with a suspicious glare but relented and handed over the money.

Emil made a quick exit.

"What was that all about?" Mathias questioned.

"I don't know," Liam answered staring after his husband. "What I do know is he's been acting weird since he got a phone call earlier."

"Weird," Lukas huffed suddenly worried about his brother's wellbeing.

The group tried to act like nothing had happened but no one was spared from Lukas' frantic nitpicking. Everyone kept glancing towards the front door.

Aron and Katrine were thankfully oblivious.

The tension was broken when Emil called for Lukas from the entrance way.

Mathias started moving with him towards the sound but Lukas wordlessly gestured to him to stay with the kids.

Rounding the corner, he stumbled to a stop when he was met with two eerily familiar glares.

"Two years. Two years and not one phone call or text or any kind of notification that you were okay," his mother growled.

Lukas inhaled trying to hold in his anger.

"You knew I was okay or at least you could have checked that the freaking business section of the newspaper. My company seems to be doing pretty well," he practically snarled.

They ignored his comment.

"So I'm assuming you are still with that Matthew boy."

"Mathias," he corrected. "And yes we are still together. We are soulmates aren't we?"

His mother suddenly grabbed for his face causing Lukas to jump backward into the wall.

"What the hell?"

"I was just checking to make sure you don't have any...bruises. You know how rough policemen are."

Lukas rubbed his chin a the while glaring daggers.

"Don't judge a book by the stereotype. He isn't you or dad so I'm probably not going to experience any physical abuse any time soon."

They both flinched at that.

"Mathias is a loving, caring and compassionate husband and father. You have no right to-"

"Father?" his parents snapped in unison.

"Yes father. We adopted two amazing young children and he's honestly doing a better job at being a parent then you or I are ever going to be."

If he couldn't sense their anger before, he could sense it now.

He glanced at Emil who seemed to be silently begging his brother not to mention that he had also adopted recently.

He turned lazily back to where his parents stood, absolutely livid.

"Lukas we will give you one more chance. If you apologize for everything you put us through, _both of you._ We will let you back into our home and properly take care of our grandchildren."

There was a moment of silence before Lukas burst into loud and unexpected laughter. Emil couldn't help but catch the contagious hysterics and let out a few giggles of his own.

"You really are stupid aren't you?" he spit at them.

They recoiled in shock.

"You don't mentally and physically abuse someone for over twenty years and expect them to come running when you call then dump their kids into the same, childhood staining arms."

He turned to Emil who was looking impressed and terrified at the same time.

"I'm going to say something and correct me if I miss use this term."

He turned back.

"Pardon my French but, Fuck that noise."

His parents stared at him in shock.

Taking the initiative, Emil helped his brother guide them out of the house.

They tried to protest but Lukas had them pinned. 

"If you ever come near me or my family or my extended family again I will slap you two with a restraining order and "leak" it to every tabloid magazine in the country. Am I clear?"

He didn't give them a chance to respond before slamming the door in their faces.

He sighed happily it would be a long time before they showed their faces around them again. Their reputation was too important to them.

Taking some breaths to calm down, he turned to his brother.

"How the hell did they get my address?"

Emil looked down.

"It's a long story."

"Summarize it," Lukas growled.

Emil flinched and stumbled back a bit.  Before he could start, Lukas already had him in a bear hug.

"I didn't mean to get mad at you. I'm just a little wound up but that wasn't an excuse."

Emil accepted the hug but shook his head.

"No, I'm sorry. It was my fault that they had your address."

Lukas pulled back.

"How?"

Emil shuffled his feet.

"I checked in on Facebook when I got to your house and I didn't realize I was just posting it to everyone. I blocked mom and dad but I was still friends with our chauffeur and you know how nosey they are."

"So how did you know they were coming? Did they send you a message?"

"No, remember what I said about our old chauffeur? Natalya?"

"Yes?"

"I still talk to her now and again. She sent me a warning and I tried to get her to stop them but I didn't want her to lose her job."

"Oh," Lukas sighed.

"Dude, I'm really sorry. If-"

Lukas waved him off.

"It was a simple mistake. I'm just glad someone else hasn't walked in or they hadn't made it any further into the house."

"Yeah, I wouldn't wish that on my worse enemy."

"Yeah," Lukas sighed agreeing.

"So what do-"

Emil was interrupted by Mathias shouting from deeper into the house.

"Lukas?"

"Just a minute Mathias," he called back.

"Lukas!" Mathias shouted more intensely.

The brothers shared a look before darting towards the dining room.

Had their parents come back in through the back? Did one of the kids injure themselves? Had someone brought a puppy as a present? A million terrifying questions buzzed through Lukas' head.

The pair skidded into the room to find Aron clutching Mathias shoulder looking fearfully at Amelia who was being held up by Alfred.

"What happened?" Lukas snapped rushing forward to check his children over.

"Woah, go supermom," Mathias chuckled.

"'Mathias!"

"Sorry," Mathias said offering his free hand up in surrender. "It's okay, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just excited."

"About what?"

"This," he said reaching behind Aron to grab what was in his other hand.

"Mathias, tell me you didn't nearly give me a heart attack over a spoon."

"No not the spoon, I was meaning the reflection. Here," he said grabbing his old mirror off the table.

Lukas stood behind to get a better look  and suddenly inhaled in surprise.

Right there in the expertly crafted glass was what looked like Amelia behind held by Lukas.

"So that means?" Lukas whispered trailing off.

"Yep!" Alfred chirped speaking up for the first time making Amelia jump. "We are going to be brother in laws!"

"I don't think that's how it works, Lukas said, mind buzzing with the possible outcomes.

Mathias leaned over and scooped up Katrine and pressed them both to Lukas who gladly wrapped his hands the best he could around them.

"Breathe Lukas, breathe. It's going to be okay. I promise. We are going to figure this out."

Lukas sighed and kissed his children's heads.

" _You have no idea what just happened do you?"_ He murmured in Norwegian then repeated in Danish.  
They both shook their heads no.

"It's going to be a long day then isn't it?"

Without really understanding they both nodded.

"Good," he murmured kissing Mathias. 

"All the more time to spend with my family."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a ridiculous amount of time despite the fact that I was only editing.   
> I hope you enjoyed the story and feel free to ask me if I have a fic already written for one of your favorite pairs.  
> Ciao.


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